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Subject:
Objection to the Buc-ee's Administrative Determination and Demand for a Public Hearing — C-1 Zone, I-25 & County Line Road

Chair Geitner and Commissioners,

Please accept this letter as evidence for consideration in the matter of File Number APP261—Appeal of Buc-ee’s Administrative Determination (original File Number ADM264). In an upcoming hearing, the Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) will hear the appeal APP261 and be asked by the applicant to classify the proposed Buc-ee’s travel center as a convenience store. However, the proposed travel center does not meet the definition of a convenience store, nor does it meet the criteria to be considered similar to one for purposes of approval in a C-1 zone.

Buc-ee’s Does Not Meet the Definition of a Convenience Store

Buc-ee’s does not meet the County’s definition of a convenience store in a number of ways.

Convenience Stores are Neighborhood Markets, Buc-ee’s is Not

First, Buc-ee’s does not fit the neighborhood-scale definition of a convenience store. Section 1.15 of the Land Development Code (LDC) defines a convenience store as:

“An establishment for the purpose of offering for sale to the neighborhood in which it is located such items as groceries, ready‑to‑eat food, over‑the‑counter drugs, and sundries. A convenience store may include retail sale of gasoline and other petroleum products.”

A key part of this definition is that a convenience store’s purpose must be to offer products for sale “to the neighborhood in which it is located”. The County’s Master Plan supports the neighborhood-scale definition as well. The site is located in a “suburban residential placetype” for which page 32 of the Master Plan says commercial development “must be small-scale standalone businesses that serve a neighborhood population.”

However, Buc-ee’s purpose would be to serve travelers on interstate 25. Buc-ee’s reports that the vast majority of its customers come from outside the zip code in which a travel center is located. Buc-ee’s calls its locations “travel centers” in planning documents, on its company website, and in the press. The project was first presented to El Paso County in 2024 as a “travel center”. The massive size of the proposed travel center makes it obvious that it is not intended to serve the surrounding neighborhood. The travel center would be about four times as large as all existing convenience stores in the Tri-Lakes area combined. The travel center has an estimated 22,150 daily vehicle trips, but the Tri-Lakes area only has 8,750 households. The number of expected trips is more than two and a half times the number of households in the area, meaning there is no way these households could make up the expected customer base of the projected 22,150 daily trips to the travel center.

Convenience Stores Do Not Include Food Preparation, But Buc-ee’s Does

Buc-ee’s travel centers include food preparation—essentially restaurants inside the large retail building. The County’s definition of a convenience store includes the sale of “groceries, ready‑to‑eat food, over‑the‑counter drugs, and sundries.” It does not include food preparation as part of an allowed use within a convenience store. In fact, restaurants are a separate use specified in the code.

Convenience Stores Allow Incidental Fuel Sales, not a Mega Gas Station

Buc-ee’s would have 120 fueling pump positions. This number of fuel pumps would roughly double the number of passenger pumps that exist in the entire Tri-Lakes area. There is currently no shortage of fuel pumps or limits to accessing fuel in the community. This massive number of fuel pumps is clearly part of Buc-ee’s travel center business model and not within the scope of fueling provided by a convenience store. This number of pumps does not fit within a neighborhood-scale use.

Convenience Stores Allow Sale of “Sundries”, but Buc-ee’s has Expansive Retail

Buc-ee’s retail offerings exceed the type of retail described in the County’s definition of a convenience store. The County’s definition of a convenience store includes the sale of “sundries”. Sundries are not defined in the County’s code, but the Cambridge Dictionary defines sundries as “various different small things that are considered together, usually because they are not important enough to be considered separately.” Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines sundries as “miscellaneous small articles, details, or items.” While the County’s definition of a convenience store includes retail of miscellaneous small items, Buc-ee’s travel centers sell a large variety of larger retail items not commonly considered sundries. For example, Buc-ee’s sells home goods and sporting goods, such as cookware, clothing, and home décor.

Buc-ee’s Does Not Meet the Criteria to be Considered Similar to a Convenience Store or Allowed in a C-1 Zone

Since Buc-ee’s doesn’t meet the definition of a convenience store, the next question is whether the proposed travel center meets the criteria to be considered similar to one. Section 5.3.6 of the LDC describes the process for the County to evaluate whether a proposed development is similar to an existing defined type of development. The process requires the County to evaluate the proposed project against certain criteria to determine if (1) the function, performance, and location requirements are consistent with the purpose of the zoning district and, (2) the use is compatible with other allowed uses and similar in characteristics such as traffic, parking and noise. The Buc-ee’s travel center fails both of the criteria.

Buc-ee’s is Not Consistent with C-1 Zoning

The purpose of the C-1 zone before becoming obsolete was for commercial uses compared to the C-2 zone that was for large commercial uses. The C-2 zone, not the C-1 zone, was for large commercial uses. Of these two obsolete zones retained in the code, the C-1 zone is the more restrictive commercial zone.

The C-1 zone, before becoming obsolete, prohibited all sales of fuel. Gas stations and truck stops were not allowed uses and still remain prohibited. The definition of a convenience store before the C-1 zone was obsolete, expressly prohibited the sale of fuel. Based on this, it is clear that the travel center is not consistent with the purpose of the zone.

Buc-ee’s Has Characteristics and Impacts of a Far Greater Scale

The travel center would have characteristics and impacts of a far greater scale than a convenience store or anything else allowed in a C-1 zone. Traffic, health impacts, pollution, and noise would all be of a vastly greater scale than a convenience store or other allowed uses in a C-1 zone. The applicant’s own traffic study shows that a convenience store with a gas station would have 3,212 daily trips, just a fraction of the 22,150 daily trips expected for the travel center.

The BoCC Should Deny the Appeal

Buc-ee’s is asking the BoCC to overturn the decision made by the County’s Planning Director. They are also asking to have the largest commercial land use project in the County to be classified as merely a convenience store and be designated as an allowed use in a zone that has been obsolete for decades all without going through the County’s usual land use processes. This process alone signals that the appeal should be denied. The evidence presented confirms that the appeal must be denied. Buc-ee’s is a large-scale travel center. It is an integrated use type that includes a large-scale gas station, large-scale retail, and large-scale fast-food style food services. These uses add up to far more than a convenience store. The County’s own Planning Director found that the proposed travel center “includes a combination of characteristics, impacts, and design elements that are mixed and uncommon within unincorporated El Paso County.”

I urge you to please deny APP261. Buc-ee’s is not a convenience store.

Thank you for considering this evidence.

Sincerely,

[Your full name]

[Your address / neighborhood, El Paso County]