The Kaua'i Planning Commission today approved zoning permits allowing the big-box retailer to build a 150,000 square foot store on a 15-acre site near The Home Depot at Kukui Grove Village West.

The company must make traffic improvements under a plan that must be approved by the state and county transportation departments, as a condition for the permits. The company must also use outside lighting that minimizes the impact on seabirds, and follow a landscaping plan that uses native plants.

Costco officials have said they hope to have the warehouse and gas station open for business this fall.

With the Kaua'i store, Issaquah, Wash.-based Costco will have warehouses and gas stations on Hawai'i's four major islands.

Costco has three warehouse stores and two gas stations on O'ahu, one on Maui, and a store and gas station on the Big Island in Kailua-Kona. The company recently announced plans for a gas station at the Kahului store on Maui.

Costco's gas prices are typically 10 percent lower than other retailers.

Hawai'i tops nation in cost of assisted living

Hawai'i tops the nation with the highest cost for staying in an assisted living facility, according to Genworth Financial's annual Cost of Care Survey.

The average annual cost for a private one-bedroom unit in an assisted living facility in Hawai'i is $49,200, compared to the national average of $30,300. At the bottom of the list is Arkansas, with an average annual cost of $18,000. An executive summary of the study is available online.

Maui General Store aims to acquire Texas natural gas project

Maui General Store, Inc. said today it has signed a letter of intent with Omni Oil and Gas, Inc. of Dallas to negotiate an agreement under which Maui General Store would acquire 100 percent of the working interest in a 20-well natural gas drilling project within Barnett Shale area in the Fort Worth Basin in Texas.

The letter also states that Maui General Store will acquire a significant interest in two other energy projects, the 124-well Tuscaloosa Red River Bull Bayou sand unit in Lafayette, Louisiana, and the 400-acre China South Oil field located near Beaumont, Texas.