Buc-ee's moved another step closer to breaking ground in northern El Paso County this week after county officials announced the company had filed a site development plan for staff evaluation. El Paso County posted notice of the submission on its website Monday, characterizing the review as an administrative process.
The submitted plan addresses elements including lighting, landscaping, parking, traffic, and roadway improvements, along with other technical design standards. County staff will now examine the filing to determine whether it satisfies those requirements.
The procedural stakes are significant for those who have long opposed the project. County officials noted on their website that a plan meeting all technical standards would receive administrative approval, and that such a decision could not be appealed to the Board of County Commissioners. At least one local outlet reported it had asked the county whether any other recourse would be available to opponents if the plan is approved, and had not yet received a response.
The project carries a long and contentious history in the Tri-Lakes region. Buc-ee's initially sought to bring the property into Palmer Lake through annexation, highlighting close to $1 million in projected sales tax revenue, but residents of that community mounted strong opposition, saying such a development would erode their small-town identity, and the company pulled the annexation request in February.
Buc-ee's then pursued a path through El Paso County directly. The parcel the company acquired in April carries C-1 commercial zoning. Among the uses permitted in a C-1 district is a convenience store. Opponents contended that the travel center concept Buc-ee's operates failed to meet the county's definition of a convenience store under its Land Development Code, but that argument did not prevail. In August, the Board of County Commissioners concluded that the project qualified as a permitted use for the parcel situated along County Line Road near Interstate 25.
Following that hearing, the board indicated that filing a site development plan would be the company's next required action, a step Buc-ee's has now completed. A Buc-ee's consultant confirmed the company remains committed to construction on the site, contingent on county approval. Opposition has extended beyond Palmer Lake, with the town of Monument also going on record urging the county to reject the project.
How long county staff will take to complete their administrative review has not been publicly announced.