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OCN > 2604 > Buc-ee’s Resistance Community Meeting, March 19 – “It’s not over”

Buc-ee’s Resistance Community Meeting, March 19 – “It’s not over”

Highlights

  • The latest update confirms Buc-ee's plans a 74,000-square-foot travel center on the west side of I-25 and County Line Road with a 25–35 acre parking area and about 120 fueling spots, projecting around 11,000 weekday vehicle exits and entrances and up to more traffic on weekends and holidays.
  • Recent developments include Monument Ridge West (MRW) withdrawing its annexation application to Palmer Lake, an administrative Boundary Line Adjustment adding 10 acres south of the MRW property, stockpiled fill dirt, two well permits filed, with no county travel center permit filed yet.
  • Zoning and land-use context show surrounding areas zoned for residential and rural uses, with a small CC zone on part of the travel center site; officials anticipate Buc-ee's may argue the project fits within a limited retail/service allowance of the master plan.
  • Water supply planning centers on competing rules: the state's 100-year rule for aquifer sustainability versus the county's stricter 300-year rule for subdivisions, with MRW consultant Vertex arguing the travel center should fall under the 100-year rule.
  • Public services would shift to county Sheriff's Office, Monument Police, Monument Fire District, and Monument Sanitation District if the project proceeds, and a number of permits and approvals remain unresolved at the county level.
  • In short, Buc-ee's plans face ongoing zoning and regulatory hurdles with potential significant impacts on traffic, water use, and public services, and community action remains active as opposition pursues further legal review.

By James Howald

A standing-room-only crowd of 300 or more gathered at the Tri-Lakes YMCA on March 19 to hear the latest news about the proposed Buc-ee’s travel center from Matthew Beverly of Tri-Lakes Preservation Inc. (TPI), a nonprofit committed to supporting responsible growth in the Tri-Lakes area, and from Kat Gayle, a lawyer with Integrity Matters (IM), a nonprofit government watchdog group.

Beverly gave an overview of the travel center design, discussed recent developments, zoning issues, water supply, public services, and property values, ending with a call to action. “It’s not over,” he said. Gayle argued that El Paso County has ignored the law to allow the project to go forward and presented IM’s next steps.

Scale and scope

Beverly said Buc-ee’s planned to build a 74,000-square-foot building on the west side of the intersection of I-25 and County Line Road with 25 to 35 acres of concrete parking lot. The travel center would have 120 fueling spots, nearly doubling the number currently in the Tri-Lakes community. Eleven thousand cars would exit and re-enter the freeway on the average weekday after stopping at the center, Beverly said. He expected more traffic on weekends and holidays. Buc-ee’s plan calls for 320 light fixtures and a 100-foot sign. The light pollution would be visible for miles. The center is estimated to use around 1.3 million gallons of water a month, Beverly said.

Recent developments

Beverly said that Monument Ridge West LLC (MRW), the company that owns the land, recently withdrew its application for annexation into the Town of Palmer Lake. Palmer Lake’s Board of Trustees had not accepted the withdrawal at the time of the meeting at the YMCA. He argued that a small group of Palmer Lake town leaders wanted to get the project approved as quickly as possible.

Vertex Consulting Services, the company advising Buc-ee’s and MRW, submitted a Boundary Line Adjustment to the El Paso County Planning Department, adding 10 acres south of the MRW property originally proposed for the travel center. The adjustment was approved by the Planning Department on an administrative basis without a public hearing.

Fill dirt from the county’s work to level, straighten, and add curbs to Beacon Lite Road has been stockpiled on the proposed Buc-ee’s site.

Caption: March 25, landfill on the property atop Monument hill proposed for a future Buc-ee’s. Photo by Allen Alchian.

MRW has applied for two permits to drill wells on the property, one for the Denver Aquifer and the other for the Arapahoe Aquifer. Beverly noted that the well permit requests preceded Buc-ee’s withdrawal of its Palmer Lake annexation application, which he argued indicated the company’s intention to go back to the county for approval. Beverly noted that no application to build the travel center has been filed at the county level to date. He said he expects the company to try to get administrative approval, which would not require any public hearing, because most of the property is currently zoned C-1, an obsolete zoning category historically used for small-scale neighborhood commercial activities.

Zoning issues

Beverly said one of TPI’s goals was to educate the community about zoning issues. The land to the east of I-25, known as Monument Ridge East, is zoned for residences in two categories: 12 residences per acre (RM-12) and one residence per 6,000-square-foot lot (RS-6000). The land west of the travel center site is zoned for rural residences on 5-acre lots (RR-5). These residences all use wells, Beverly said. A small portion in the northeast corner of the travel center site is zoned Commercial Community (CC), a designation used for retail, service, and office establishments that primarily serve nearby residential neighborhoods.

The county Master Plan categorizes the area at the top of the Palmer Divide as Suburban Residential, which, while predominantly for residences, does allow for limited retail and service uses. Beverly said he believed Buc-ee’s would argue it is “just a gas station” to take advantage of the “retail and services use” aspect of the master plan.

Water supply

Beverly explained there are two water supply requirements used in planning developments. The state uses a 100-year rule, requiring aquifers to be managed so that they last a minimum of 100 years; in other words, only 1% of the water can be pumped in any given year. The county, however, uses a more stringent 300-year rule that requires developers to identify a 300-year water supply for subdivisions. Beverly said Vertex Consulting Services was arguing for the travel center to fall under the 100-year rule because it is not a subdivision. Allowing a single business to use the 100-year rule would require the county to set a precedent, Beverly said.

Public services

Beverly said Buc-ee’s decision not to pursue annexation into Palmer Lake requires changes to the plan for public services such as police and fire. Police protection, instead of coming from Palmer Lake, would be provided by the county Sheriff’s Office, which typically has a single officer in north El Paso County, serving as the Student Resource Officer at Palmer Ridge High School. That officer would be pulled out of the high school to address issues at the travel center. Police back-up would likely be provided by the Monument Police Department. Monument Fire District would serve the travel center instead of the Palmer Lake Fire Department, and Monument Sanitation District would provide sewer service.

Property values

Beverly said it was difficult to find a study examining how Buc-ee’s travel centers impact home values. Using studies of major developments, the study done for the rock quarry in Colorado Springs and anecdotal press releases from communities with Buc-ee’s travel centers, he estimated a total property value loss to homeowners of $64 million to $241 million. Those property losses would mean a decrease in taxes paid to the county of $346,000 to $1.3 million, according to Beverly’s estimate.

Call to action

In his final comments, Beverly asked residents to let their neighbors know that Buc-ee’s still intends to build its travel center. He recommended writing emails and letters to the El Paso Board of County Commissioners, the county Planning Department, Congressional District 5 Rep. Jeff Crank, state House District 20 Rep. Jarvis Caldwell, and Holly Williams, who represents County Commission District 1.

Beverly noted that Buc-ee’s plans in other states had failed when Departments of Transportation “made the bill too much,” adding that the state Department of Transportation has concerns about traffic safety on Monument Hill. He encouraged the community to attend meetings of the county commissioners and the county Planning Department.

The TPI webpage, at https://www.trilakespreservation.org/, has a sign-up page for a newsletter, sample letters opposing the travel center, and a way to make tax-deductible donations to the organization.

In his introduction of Gayle, Beverly noted that IM has been supporting TPI pro bono, although TPI has paid the legal fees for filings.

Gayle said IM had scored victories with the recalls of trustees in Palmer Lake and with Buc-ee’s withdrawal of two petitions for annexation. She questioned the logic of the community surrendering its water and property rights to a family-owned corporation in Texas.

Gayle argued that the county’s approval of the Boundary Line Adjustment and a recent grading permit were, in fact, backdoor, illegal ways to advance the travel center toward approval.

Gayle said Integrity Matters was planning lawsuits against the county based on Colorado’s Rule 106, which allows individuals to seek judicial review of government actions, and on Rule 57, which authorizes declaratory judgments challenging policymaking by governing bodies.

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James Howald can be reached at jameshowald@ocn.me.

Above: March 25, landfill on the property atop Monument hill proposed for a future Buc-ee’s. Photo by Allen Alchian.

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