Controversial plans for the second Colorado location of the Texas travel chain Buc-ee’s are making their debut in El Paso County’s public hearing process.
Interest in the project has been high from the start, defining over a year of local politics in the small town of Palmer Lake where it was originally proposed. El Paso County has dedicated a webpage to expectations and rules on public comment etiquette ahead of the 9 a.m. Thursday meeting.
The five-member Board of County Commissioners will need to evaluate evidence, not “public popularity,” according to the page.
“The number of people testifying for or against a project will not outweigh evidence that the project meets the legal criteria for approval,” the site reads.
Here’s a primer on the debate:
Buc-ee’s wants a zoning determination
Thursday’s meeting will not decide whether a Buc-ee’s can be built or not on the company’s 30-acre Tri-Lakes parcel next to Interstate 25 near County Line Road. At hand instead is a specific question about zoning.
The land under consideration is zoned C-1, a commercial district that encompasses a hodgepodge of uses. Zoning determines how land can be used. It’s a mechanism to separate incompatible uses, like residential and heavy industrial, and plan communities ahead of growth.
Earlier, developers asked the county to make an administrative judgment on whether a Buc-ee’s fits into the approved uses of C-1. If it does, later approvals could be easier to obtain.
It’s not a cut-and-dried decision. While a convenience store is on the list of approved C-1 uses, gas stations and truck stops are not. Buc-ee’s developers have arguments on the side of seeing the travel center as a convenience store, while those in opposition to the project have written in with other interpretations.
Anyone who’s visited a Buc-ee’s would likely agree it’s more than one thing. The key is finding what use the project most resembles and whether it generally conforms to the zoning. The county’s planning director, Meggan Herington, wrote in a letter that she could not say whether Buc-ee’s fits the zoning.
“Based on the definitions, historical approvals and comparative analysis, staff finds it difficult to classify the proposed use,” she wrote.
The developers appealed, which triggers a review by the El Paso County commissioners at a public land-use hearing.
Where does Palmer Lake fall into this?
It doesn’t, at least not anymore. Buc-ee’s developers initially asked the town to annex the property back in 2024. The parcel sits about 3 miles from the small town’s borders. In the deal eventually made public, Buc-ee’s would have paid for new water infrastructure and other concessions in exchange for use of town services.
From the start, the project was deeply divisive. A definitive vote on Buc-ee’s never made it to the Palmer Lake Board of Trustees, which governs the town. The project was a catalyst for a special recall election, lawsuits and months of mudslinging.
In February, developers withdrew their application without citing a reason. The town is trying to finalize the process, but problems with legal representation have complicated efforts.
All signs point to Buc-ee’s continuing its commitment to building in the same location, this time via the jurisdiction that already governs the unincorporated land. Developers have already applied for well permits through the state.
Who’s who of the debate
The county’s Centennial Hall is likely to be packed Thursday morning. The county is advising people to carpool and allow extra time for parking.
In the past, this Buc-ee’s project has spawned organized opposition from multiple corners of influence. Several political groups active in the Tri-Lakes region have joined legal action against Palmer Lake in relation to the project and other procedural matters.
One of the spearheads has been Integrity Matters, a Colorado Springs-based political organization that has been active in other local issues. The organization has come out strongly against the Buc-ee’s zoning request.
The Monument town council signed a joint letter recently opposing the zoning request.
Back when Buc-ee’s was still considered under an annexation agreement with Palmer Lake, Gov. Jared Polis and Colorado Senators John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet called on Buc-ee’s founder Arch “Beaver” Aplin III to reconsider the location. The letter cited the project’s proximity to Douglas County’s Greenland Ranch conservation easement.
Buc-ee’s has not traditionally responded to media requests for comment on the project beyond status confirmation. The official owner and applicant is Buc-ee’s EPCO, LLC.
The company is represented by Vertex Consulting, LLC, a Colorado Springs-based company that specializes in the land entitlement process, according to its website. If precedent holds, Vertex will likely be presenting on behalf of the project Thursday.
Why all the Buc-ee’s hype?
Colorado’s first Buc-ee’s location opened two years ago in Johnstown. The chain advertises clean bathrooms, food like barbecue and “beaver nuggets” and trademark merchandise. The brand does not allow tractor-trailers and typically has more than 100 gas pumps per location.
The chain has a cult following amplified by social media sites like TikTok.
The expanding brand has been in the news recently, and not just in Colorado. At a grand opening in Arkansas on Aug. 17, Aplin signaled that the company preferred building in a “conservative, business-friendly state.”
“I’m starting to realize life’s too short to try to build in places that people don’t appreciate what you’re bringing,” he said.
The company has also drawn attention over some of its recent copyright infringement lawsuits against other companies with cartoon animal logos, which prompted backlash in Ohio.
For more information about the Buc-ee’s project in El Paso County, including meeting rules for Thursday, visit the county’s website.