Fresh dirt and heavy machinery might be raising eyebrows on Monument Hill, where a controversial Buc-ee’s location has been debated for over a year. While something was afoot, the work has stilled for now.

According to El Paso County spokesperson Scott Anderson, “material movement” started on the property at the County Line Road Interstate 25 exit before the landowner, Monument Ridge West, LLC, had obtained all the necessary permits.

“Upon identifying this sequencing issue, the County directed the contractor to temporarily pause placement activities until the appropriate permit is secured and all required measures are implemented,” he wrote in an emailed statement.

The material in question is earth removed in an improvement project on Beacon Lite Road. In what Anderson said was a common construction practice, the county agreed to put excess material on the Monument Ridge West property.

The landowner wants to use the stockpile for grading, which will affect about six acres of the parcel. In a letter of intent, an engineering firm for the owner said that the chosen location would disturb “few if any” trees. The project does not include any construction plans beyond the land levelling.

Anderson said the work that has already been done is confined to less than one acre.

Buc-ee’s has been embroiled in a months-long battle in Palmer Lake, a small town near the property where developers hoped to secure an annexation. The plan was shelved last month with the withdrawal of the application.

Permitting activity with El Paso County has stoked some speculation that developers may still be interested in finding a way to build a location of the super-sized Texas chain store and gas station at Monument Hill.

In a notice on the county’s planning department page prompted by “significant public interest,” staff wrote that the county has not received a development application and that a public hearing would likely be part of the process if one was filed.

Anderson said that the grading work could continue once the landowner has obtained the right approvals.