Buc-ee’s to hold public meeting in Palmer Lake Tuesday

PALMER LAKE, Colo. (KRDO) - The beaver-themed convenience store brings in fans from far and wide. But not everyone in northern El Paso County loves that concept.

A meeting will be held by Buc-ee's to share their vision for the proposed new location and to allow community members to voice their concerns. The public meeting is set for Tuesday, Dec. 3 at 6 p.m. at the Palmer Lake Elementary School.

KRDO13 sat down with the consultant hired by Buc-ee's to see what we can expect for a possible
Buc-ee's on Monument Hill along I-25. He says it would be a major benefit to the community for decades to come.

"This is the kind of thing that will sustain this community for the next 75 years," shared Mark Waller, Founder and CEO of Waller Consulting.

For Waller, consulting for Buc-ee's is a personal project.

"I am a resident of the town of Palmer Lake. And I know how this community struggles, for tax revenue," stated Waller.

He says the added revenue would help pay first responders a living wage, while others in the county aren’t as pleased with the plan. Just a month ago KRDO13 spoke with others in the area.

"I think it might prevent people from coming into town at all. And that would hurt all the small businesses in this town," said Spencer Boyles, a Palmer Lake business owner.

RELATED: Buc-ee’s is eyeing a new location in Southern Colorado

A petition with over a thousand signatures argues there would be added traffic and less water resources.

"Buc-ees is going to engage in the upgrades necessary to support their site," Waller provided.

The consultant says independent third-party studies are underway to determine the best path forward for infrastructure changes and water needs.

"An independent third-party group is doing a study to determine what the additional water needs are going to be in order to bring Buc-ee's to the community. And rest assured, that facility will not get built, until those water needs are met," shared Waller.

Now he looks forward to Tuesday's meeting.

"We have a goal and a vision for what we want to do in this meeting, and that is to be able to share the vision of what Buc-ees is going to be for this community, and then answer any questions people might have listened to their concerns, listen to their complaints, find out if there are areas where we can work to make this a better option for the people that live in the community," Waller said, "But, you know, we're excited to be able to have those folks come in and obviously have their voices heard, because at the end of the day, that needs to happen."

He also made it clear that this is an already commercially zoned property at I-25 and County Line Road, so he says it should be expected something will be developed there. But this is in the very early stages and Buc-ee’s still needs approval from the Palmer Lake Board of Trustees before becoming a reality.

A vote regarding preliminary paperwork for the proposed Buc-ee's will be held by the Palmer Lake Board of Trustees on December 12. Waller says it's the beginning steps to start getting the ball rolling on this project.

"The vote by the town council on the 12th that's coming up is nothing more than a perfunctory vote to determine if the paperwork has been done correctly. So it's not a discussion on the merits of the annexation itself. It is simply a vote on did the paperwork get submitted correctly and can we receive it? That is all that's happening, on the 12th. But then all of that kind of stuff, all of the annexation process, the determination about water, the determination about traffic, the determination about additional infrastructure will be discussed and decided as we're working through that annexation process," stated Waller.

KRDO13 also reached out to the creator of the petition and they have yet to respond.