El Paso County sets Buc-ee’s hearing date
The El Paso County Board of Commissioners will decide an important zoning issue for Buc-ee’s on Aug.27.
Buc-ee’s is a chain of travel centers based in Texas. The first Colorado location opened in 2024 in Johnstown, and the company is hoping to build a second at the County Line Road exit of Interstate 25. After an unsuccessful bid to annex the proposed location into the nearby town of Palmer Lake, developers are in the process of seeking approvals through El Paso County.
No Buc-ee’s building plans have been submitted yet. Before that happens, the county will need to decide a zoning question at the request of the developers. The unincorporated land where Buc-ee’s might be built is zoned C-1, a broad commercial designation that allows many uses. Buc-ee’s developers want the county to agree that the proposed travel center counts as a convenience store, which is an allowed use.
A gas station, on the other hand, is not. In a reply, county staff were unable to define the project as allowed or not under C-1. Developers appealed that decision to the board of county commissioners, who will hear the issue at the upcoming meeting.
“The hearing does not approve or deny construction of a Buc-ee’s. It only resolves the land-use classification question,” reads the county’s update page.
The hearing will have a public comment section. Speakers have to register ahead of time, and people can also submit written evidence until noon the day before the hearing.
The county’s webpage cautions that the hearing is meant to discuss the zoning issue, not any other aspect of the project.
Meetings about Buc-ee’s drew large crowds and lasted well into the night in Palmer Lake last year.
“Because decisions must strictly rely on evidence (written or oral) addressing the criteria, the Board of County Commissioners must base its findings on specific, factual evidence instead of public popularity. The number of people testifying for or against a project will not outweigh evidence that the project meets the legal criteria for approval,” reads the county’s public participation page.
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