The Palmer Lake Board of Trustees took step one Thursday night time in a collection of actions that ultimately may annex land the place a Texas firm needs to construct Colorado’s second Buc-ee’s location.
The proposal to construct a 74,000-square-foot comfort retailer and fuel station alongside Interstate 25 about 50 miles south of Denver has angered residents of Palmer Lake and surrounding communities.
Buc-ee’s opened its first retailer within the state in March in Johnstown, on the southwest nook of I-25 and Colorado 60 about 47 miles north of Denver.
About 300 folks attended a Dec. 4 public assembly in Palmer Lake the place Buc-ee’s representatives spoke about plans for a second retailer. A report by KRDO-TV in Colorado Springs confirmed folks within the crowd with anti-Buc-ee’s indicators. Objections ran the gamut from impacts on space visitors, the lack of the realm’s rural character and noise.
In Thursday night time’s assembly, the Palmer Lake trustees thought of solely whether or not the landowner’s utility to have about 36 acres annexed to the city met the authorized necessities. Subsequent steps embrace a visitors research, a fiscal evaluation and consideration of the event’s potential impacts on providers, water and different particulars.
The board voted 4-1 for a decision saying the land is eligible for annexation. At the beginning of the assembly and all through, Mayor Professional Tem Dennis Stern instructed audio system to deal with solely whether or not the annexation utility met state authorized standards.
Nonetheless, many audio system urged the board to reject the appliance based mostly on quite a lot of complaints, together with that a big journey middle that stays open 24/7 could be misplaced within the space. Some challenged the legality of the plan by the landowner, Monument Ridge West LLC, to connect with the city by way of a highway from the neighborhood’s boundary, about 1.47 miles to the west, to the intersection of I-25 and County Line Highway.
A couple of audio system stated having a Buc-ee’s on the town would generate income for Palmer Lake.
A consultant from Vertex Consulting Service, representing the landowner, stated the annexation plan meets the requirement that not lower than one-sixth of the perimeter of the realm should be contiguous with the city boundary.
“For us to achieve extra data that’s wanted, we should transfer ahead via this course of,” Palmer Lake Trustee Shana Ball stated. “We will’t get any additional data with out making this primary step.”
There are 50 Buc-ee’s shops, with most of these in Texas. The one in Johnstown is 74,000 sq. ft and has 116 fuel pumps. The corporate doesn’t enable semitrailers on web site besides to make deliveries.
The shops have a giant following. Lots of of individuals confirmed up hours earlier than the grand opening of the Johnstown location. Buc-ee’s is understood for its red-capped beaver mascot as effectively its Texas barbecue, pastries, fudge, rows and rows of T-shirts and different merchandise, and what the corporate claims are the cleanest loos in America.
