Buc-ee's may be in the middle of a meteoric expansion across the country, but here in Texas, the beloved gas station is seeing renewed pushback on a controversial location expected to arrive in the Texas Hill Country.
Residents in the fast-growing San Antonio-area suburb of Boerne say they want city leaders to limit the scope of the travel center's development, citing concerns over property values, light and noise pollution, transparency and the potentially "irreversible" change in the small town's culture and identity.
In June, news broke that the Texas-based chain had plans to develop an additional parcel of land along Interstate 10 for a parking lot — a project that requires rezoning approval from the City of Boerne Planning and Zoning Commission. The land was purchased from the Texas Department of Transportation and is intended for use as an accessory parking lot for their travel center on the adjacent lot, according to city spokesman Chris Shadrock. The rezoning request was scheduled to appear at a July 7 Planning and Zoning Commission hearing, but the issue was withdrawn at the time.
The future home of Boerne's Buc-ee's store will be located near the intersection of Interstate 10 and US 87 Business, Boerne, TX 78006.
When the commission met Monday, August 4, for a regularly scheduled session, Buc-ee's was nowhere on the agenda, but residents were invited to provide public feedback on any number of issues.
Several locals took the opportunity to express concerns related to the additional land purchase and rezoning proposal and the overall project, which has been in the works since 2016.
Local business owner and Boerne resident Sam McGee called for commission members to consider limiting the megastore's acreage and the scope of its expansion, calling for a healthy balance and compromise on the issue.
"If we have any ability to limit the expansion of the square footage or additional gas pumps or acreage, I think it's important if we have that ability to consider that," McGee said, referencing traffic near the Buc-ee's in Luling.
"I pass this store, and the traffic's horrendous. I think we live in a country that promotes capitalism and promotes entrepreneurialism, and I think that's wonderful," he continued. "But for this community, we're Boerne. We really care about our history. We really care about our heritage. And we really care about the effects that could be irreversible from having such a large store here."
McGee said he was concerned that the associated traffic increase and other potential increases in noise and light could reduce property values, saying, "If you think about it from a pragmatic standpoint, if we have a reduction in property values, that actually hurts the city. And it hurts the citizens."
Christi Ackerman, another resident who lives near the site of the future travel center, discussed concerns regarding community safety, referencing a Best Western Boerne Inn and Suites hotel near the Villas at Hampton Place. Ackerman said that the windows of the hotel look down into a number of homes in the area, causing safety issues for young families.
"I was alarmed for those people, knowing that those families would never feel safe again," she said. "And their property value indeed went down in an instant. So my concern with the Buc-ee's project is that this same disregard might happen for my current neighborhood."
Ackerman requested that the travel center build a blocked-off wall separating the location from nearby neighborhoods. "Some social media has gone around, kind of exposing some things that are coming through, and so we're all a little disturbed about it," said Ackerman, not specifying exactly what information was circulating online.
A third resident, Dana Mathis, also brought up concerns over noise, light pollution and property values, saying that he previously lived near one of the travel center's locations in Lake Jackson, Texas. But his main concern was transparency and traffic.
Mathis said that when he moved to the community in 2014, he didn't know the city was in negotiations to bring the travel giant to the town, calling it a "lack of transparency and clarity for the public," and asking the commission to not approve Buc-ee's request to rezone the land for the additional parking lot, suggesting that traffic conditions might become "intolerable."
"I think this whole project is going to end up greatly degrading the appearance and the culture and quality of life in Boerne," Mathis said.
Bucc-ee's rezoning request for the travel center's additional parking lot will be open for a planning and zoing public hearing this September.
Buc-ee's declined MySA's request for comment.