Editor’s note: This story has been updated since it was originally published Thursday night.

Residents of Palmer Lake will decide the fate of a proposed Buc-ee’s travel center after the town’s Board of Trustees voted 4-3 Thursday night to postpone a zoning hearing over a corresponding needed property annexation.

The vote came during a contentious special meeting of the trustees with about 100 crowded into the town hall and more than a dozen watching on a TV outside.

What’s next? Residents of the small town of around 2,500 on the north edge of El Paso County will eventually vote on the annexation, which the Texas-based Buc-ee’s needs as it eyes a second Colorado location. The trustees will continue their meeting Feb. 5.

The date for a town election remains unclear; it could be designated as a special election with its own date or rolled into a regular town election. Palmer Lake’s next municipal election is scheduled November 2026.

The proposed annexation involves land at the County Line Road exit off Interstate 25. The request by developers would connect the 30-acre property near the interstate west to Palmer Lake via a thin “flagpole” annexation of about 2 miles.

The developers are asking the town to approve a 74,000-square-foot location. The plan includes building two new water wells and making improvements to County Line Road.

The Palmer Lake Planning Commission voted against recommending the zoning and annexation proposal last month.

Just days before Thursday’s meeting, the town received a letter from Buc-ee’s attorneys asking that trustees delay their vote until after an overall town vote on the annexation.

Thursday night’s continuance led the board to adjourn before anyone in attendance had an opportunity to speak during public comment. Trustee Amy Hutson told the crowd she was voting to adjourn because she didn’t “want to be here all night.”

Numerous individuals interrupted trustees and to shout at the town’s attorney, Scott Krob, and board members who voted for the continuance.

The banging of Mayor Dennis Stern’s gavel was drowned out by shouts from the crowd.

Stern ordered the police chief to tell one person to sit down and stop yelling or else she would be removed. No one was removed or cited by police.

“If you allow people to scream and shout, you won’t have any order,” Stern told The Gazette.

Stern also said he believes the majority of people in attendance were not from Palmer Lake but from surrounding areas like Monument.

Angry residents turned their backs to the town board as the meeting adjourned, according to Gazette news partner KOAA.

Thursday’s decision comes after Palmer Lake residents voted in September to adopt an ordinance requiring any increases in size of the town to be decided as an automatic ballot question. That measure goes into effect Oct. 25.

A letter from a law firm representing Buc-ee’s requested that the town clerk to postpone the hearing on Thursday until after an election is held, according to board documents. Town staff recommended approving a request for an annexation election and to continue the public hearing at a later date.

Buc-ee’s consultant Mark Waller told The Gazette the tone of the meeting was “terrible” and made him “embarrassed to be a member of this community.” He was accompanied by a police officer as he exited the hall.

The two trustees who won a recall election, Moseley and Beth Harris, along with Trustee Atis Jurka, voted against both measures.

“Obviously the votes, in all cases, did not go the way I would have preferred,” Harris told The Gazette. “At the same time, ultimately the will of the people will prevail and they will have the opportunity to make that happen for themselves.”

Gazette news partner KOAA contributed to this story.