Gov. Jared Polis has signed a letter with the state’s two senators opposing the location planned for Buc-ee’s second Colorado location. 

In a letter to Buc-ee’s founder Arch Aplin III, Polis and Sens. John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet call on the company known for its branded merchandise and mega-sized gas stations to look elsewhere, saying the location at the top of Monument Hill along Interstate 25 would disrupt a major effort to preserve land. 

“The proposed site is within one of the most consequential conservation corridors in the United States, a landscape that Coloradans from across the political spectrum have worked to conserve at substantial public and private expense,” the letter read. 

The proposed Buc-ee’s site lies on the other side of County Line Road, the southern boundary of conservation easements that protect a large portion of the I-25 corridor in Douglas County from development.

The closest easement is for Greenland Ranch, a historic cattle ranch soon to be the location of what the Colorado Department of Transportation has called the biggest wildlife overpass built in the world to date. The land is a corridor for wildlife migration, including elk and pronghorn. 

The governor is the latest powerful Coloradan to voice opposition to the travel center, which would be constructed within 5 miles of the overpass. 

The Gazette previously reported spending by Colorado billionaire John Malone in opposition to the project. Malone and real estate executive Ian Griffis ran ads in Douglas County papers calling on local officials to take a public stance on behalf of Greenland Ranch. The pair were also involved in commissioning independent studies on the project’s impacts. 

Bennet, in a statement released last month, said the proposed 74,000-square-foot store and gas station would “scar land that Colorado families have fought to protect for decades, drain our precious water resources, and flood a treasured landscape with noise, traffic, and light.” 

In public meetings with the town of Palmer Lake, Buc-ee’s developers have disputed that the store would impact wildlife. The developer’s ecology consultants have said human encroachment via the interstate and construction in the nearby town of Monument make the site unsuitable for conservation. 

Lamar weighs in 

Meanwhile, the mayor of a small town in southeast Colorado sent his own letter to Aplin, asking Buc-ee’s to consider the “long shot” candidate of Lamar for a location. 

“We deeply appreciate Buc-ee’s commitment to direct employment, competitive pay, and the indirect economic opportunities your stores bring to the communities you serve,” read the letter by Mayor Kirk Crespin. 

Crespin’s social media posts connect the ask to the town’s recent news that its Safeway location will close in November. The town of about 8,000 will lose jobs for 53 people, according to Seco News. 

Lamar is one of 10 Safeway locations in Colorado that have been marked for closure. 

“While the chances of Buc-ee’s coming to Lamar may be slim, we will continue to welcome any business — large or small — that wants to invest in our community and create jobs,” said Crespin. 

Douglas County Commissioner George Teal also previously told The Gazette that he might support a Buc-ee’s location in Douglas County, suggesting developers look close to the expanding Dawson Ridge development in Castle Rock. 

Buc-ee’s sees uncertain future in Palmer Lake 

The proposed location for the Buc-ee’s in Palmer Lake has seen organized opposition on the local level, culminating last week with the success of three ballot questions posed to local residents in a special election. 

Buc-ee’s requires connection to existing utilities to open its location, so developers have reached out to Palmer Lake for a “flag pole” annexation into the town about 2 miles away. The request saw backlash and kicked off a campaign to recall two of the town’s trustees who supported continuing the review process of the application. 

Preliminary election results show the recall campaign was successful, triggering the election in which Kevin Dreher and Shana Ball were recalled and replaced with candidates who have expressed opposition to Buc-ee’s. 

A separate campaign acquired enough signatures to put a measure on the ballot that would remove all annexation decisions from the authority of the town’s board. That measure succeeded by a wide majority last week. 

If the measure is upheld, the annexation application for Buc-ee’s will now need to go to the voters of Palmer Lake. The town’s board still plans to have its final vote on the application at a special meeting Oct. 2.