Residents urge commissioners to weigh water, traffic and procedural concerns over proposed Buc-ee’s site

Several residents used the county’s public comment period April 21 to urge El Paso County commissioners to block or more carefully evaluate a proposed Buc-ee’s service center, raising water, traffic and process concerns.

Genevieve Gustafson said she and her neighborhood rely on private wells tied to the Denver Aquifer Basin and warned that businesses requiring large water withdrawals could force homeowners to drill deeper wells at “50 to $100,000” apiece. She also said the bridge and short on-ramps near the site create visibility and safety problems that could increase congestion and impede evacuations.

Kathleen Kobler described long-running opposition to Buc-ee’s projects elsewhere and said summertime congestion along Interstate 25 — including heavy RV traffic and several weekends of the Renaissance Festival — can paralyze local roads, creating fire and evacuation risks. "My fear is if there is a fire…how are the people that live there gonna get out?" she said.

An unnamed commenter who read a prepared statement asked the board to consider procedural reforms for land-use review, arguing that planned-unit developments (PUDs) and incremental administrative approvals can reduce meaningful public input and give developers opportunities to advance projects before formal hearings. The speaker cited an April 2024 news account attributing comments to developer Doug Quimby that he would pursue county approval if a Colorado Springs application failed.

Chair (role) and staff reminded the public that, because a formal quasi-judicial application has not been filed, comments made during this meeting cannot be included in a future hearing record unless submitted in writing or offered again at the formal hearing.

Next procedural step: the chair said no application is on file and that residents who want comments attached to any future hearing should either attend that hearing or provide written comments for the record.