Monument Hill / development dossier
Buc-ee's at Monument Hill
The zoning-classification fight is over for now, but the travel center itself is not approved for construction. The next phase is technical development review, while a new court challenge asks a judge to overturn the County's August decision.
Updated October 10, 2026 · Monument Broker local development guide
01 / current status
The County said the use is allowed. It did not approve the travel center.
On August 27, 2026, the El Paso County Board of County Commissioners voted 4-1 to grant Buc-ee's appeal and treat the proposed Monument Hill travel center as an allowed use within the existing C-1 zoning district.
That ruling resolved a narrow land-use-code question. The County's own public update states that it does not, by itself, authorize construction or operation. A future project still has to move through the applicable site-development, engineering and building-review process.
The appeal file, APP261, and the underlying administrative-determination file, ADM264, are now closed. The current County active-project list still does not show a Buc-ee's site development plan for parcels 7102200014 and 7102200015 as of October 10.
What is resolved
The proposed use may be processed as an allowed C-1 use under the Board's August resolution. Buc-ee's does not have to pursue a rezoning simply to classify the travel-center use.
What still remains
Site development plan, final site layout, traffic and access review, grading and drainage, stormwater, water and wastewater, utilities, lighting, signage, landscaping, building permits and any required state or federal approvals.
What the lawsuit changes
Tri-Lakes Preservation, The Community Voice, the High Pines Patio Homes HOA and six nearby residents filed a Rule 106 judicial-review complaint on Sept. 24. The filing asks a judge to overturn the County decision. Filing the case does not itself equal a court-ordered halt; any stay, injunction or ruling would need to be separately entered.
02 / hearings & agenda watch
No Buc-ee's hearing is currently on the October land-use agendas.
El Paso County's published 2026 hearing calendar lists the upcoming Planning Commission and Board of County Commissioners land-use meetings. As of October 10, the posted October 15 Planning Commission agenda and October 22 BoCC land-use agenda do not list a Buc-ee's item.
That does not mean nothing is happening. Because the Board has already determined the use is allowed, a future site-development application may be processed primarily through staff review unless a specific approval requires or is elevated to a public hearing. The County hearing page and EDARP project list remain the best places to watch for a new file.
03 / proposal scale, roads & traffic
The Monument Hill proposal is designed as a regional draw.
The site sits at the southwest side of the I-25 / County Line Road interchange near Beacon Lite Road. The County's 2024 early-assistance file described a 73,372-square-foot travel center with access from Beacon Lite Road and contemplated improvements to Beacon Lite and Palmer Divide Road.
During the Palmer Lake phase, later plans grew to roughly 74,000–77,000 square feet. One sketch plan described 120 vehicle fueling positions — 60 double-sided pumps — and 828 parking spaces. An earlier fiscal-impact version referenced 12 EV charging spaces and about 780 parking spaces. Those numbers remain useful for understanding scale, but they are historic proposal figures, not a County-approved final plan.
Historical traffic estimate
An earlier traffic study tied to the Palmer Lake proposal estimated roughly 22,150 weekday vehicle trips. A new County submission can change access assumptions, traffic counts and required improvements, so that figure should not be treated as the final forecast.
Beacon Lite Road
Access has consistently been contemplated from Beacon Lite Road. Road, drainage and utility work already occurring in the corridor is not automatically Buc-ee's construction.
CDR261 stockpile
The Beacon Lite Road Stockpile file covers approximately 80,000 cubic yards on parcel 7102200014. It remains active, with new County Attorney and Stormwater review comments dated Oct. 7–8, 2026. The file is separate from approval of the travel center.
04 / water, wastewater & utilities
The Palmer Lake utility plan is no longer the governing path.
When the annexation application was withdrawn in February 2026, the proposed municipal-water arrangement with Palmer Lake stopped being the development path for the site.
State records reported by The Gazette show that two commercial well permits were issued in March 2026. Together, the permits could allow almost 33 acre-feet per year — roughly 11 million gallons — for commercial uses including retail, restaurant activity, public restrooms and landscaping, subject to the permits and future development approvals.
For comparison, the former Palmer Lake concept had been analyzed around an estimated average daily demand of roughly 37,300 gallons. That number belongs to the old annexation plan and should not be assumed to be the County-plan demand.
05 / what Johnstown tells us
Colorado's first Buc-ee's shows both the economic draw and the traffic scale.
The Johnstown Buc-ee's opened March 18, 2024 near I-25 and County Road 48. The store is about 74,000 square feet with 116 fuel pumps and EV charging. It operates 24/7 and was built as a destination travel center.
Before opening, local officials projected roughly 8,000 cars per day. After the opening, regional reporting continued to describe the site as heavily visited and regularly crowded. Johnstown's 2025 budget lists Buc-ee's as a major employer with roughly 250 employees and as one of the Town's larger assessed-value taxpayers. Denver7 later reported the mayor attributing roughly $1 million per year in local tax revenue to the store.
Those results do not transfer one-for-one to Monument Hill. Johnstown has a different interchange, street network, tax structure, development pattern and surrounding land use. They are still useful evidence that Buc-ee's can create a large regional destination with meaningful fiscal activity and substantial peak traffic.
Economic activity
Employment, taxable sales and visitor spending can be significant. Johnstown identifies Buc-ee's as a major employer, and the store has become a recognizable regional destination.
Traffic concentration
Opening-week and holiday reporting documented substantial congestion around the Johnstown exit. Monument Hill's elevation, winter weather and different interchange geometry make a project-specific traffic analysis especially important.
Competitive effects
A high-volume fuel and food retailer can pressure nearby gas stations and convenience operators while also drawing new traffic that may benefit other corridor businesses. The net local effect depends on where visitors stop and where tax revenue is captured.
06 / fuel-price comparison
Buc-ee's can be aggressive on fuel, but pump prices change too quickly to hard-code as a permanent claim.
As of October 10, 2026, AAA reported Colorado regular gasoline averaging about $4.24 per gallon. The Fort Collins-Loveland metro, the closest AAA benchmark to the Johnstown store, was about $4.19, while Greeley was about $4.13.
A third-party Buc-ee's price tracker listed Johnstown regular at approximately $3.24 in its latest snapshot — roughly 95 cents below the Fort Collins-Loveland metro average — but Buc-ee's does not publish a continuously verified official pump-price feed on its corporate site, and station prices can move several times in a day. For that reason, Monument Broker treats individual-station prices as a dated snapshot, not a permanent Buc-ee's advantage.
Nearby-station reviews also show that Buc-ee's is not automatically the cheapest every day; some drivers report finding lower prices at smaller nearby stations. The more durable conclusion is that a 100-plus-position fuel center adds major price competition to the local corridor.
07 / what a Buc-ee's actually contains
It functions as food hall, gift shop, convenience store and travel stop under one roof.
Johnstown gives southern Colorado a useful real-world reference. Buc-ee's combines its fuel forecourt with prepared food, barbecue, brisket sandwiches, breakfast items and kolaches, bakery products, jerky, candy, nuts, trail mix, fountain drinks and packaged snacks.
The retail floor also includes Buc-ee's apparel and branded merchandise, gifts, home and seasonal items, travel gear and outdoor-oriented products. The chain's identity is also built around large, heavily staffed restrooms and a strong cleanliness standard.
Buc-ee's is not a conventional long-haul truck stop. The Monument Hill applicant has described the proposed use as excluding truck repair, oil changes, car washing, 18-wheel tractor-trailer use, showers, overnight parking and onsite seating.
08 / Monument & Tri-Lakes real estate
For nearby homeowners, the exact site plan will matter more than the brand name alone.
Real-estate effects are difficult to responsibly quantify before the final access, lighting, grading, landscaping, traffic and operating plans are known. Properties closest to County Line Road and Beacon Lite Road could experience the project differently from homes several miles away.
Buyers comparing northern Monument and Tri-Lakes properties should evaluate direct sightlines, road access, future commercial entitlements, noise and lighting exposure, winter traffic patterns, trail/open-space adjacency and the distance from the actual interchange — not simply whether a listing says it is “near Buc-ee's.”
Sellers should avoid assuming that the project automatically raises or lowers value. A useful valuation should compare the subject property with the most similar recent sales and account for its actual exposure to I-25, County Line Road and future development.
Project timeline
How the Monument Hill proposal reached this point.
County early-assistance file
EA2461 describes a roughly 73,372-square-foot Beacon Lite Road travel center with access from Beacon Lite Road and associated road improvements.
Palmer Lake annexation route
The owners pursue annexation and planned-development approval through Palmer Lake. Public plans evolve around a roughly 74,000–77,000-square-foot travel center.
Annexation withdrawn
The Palmer Lake annexation application is withdrawn, leaving the site in unincorporated El Paso County.
Commercial wells and ownership change
Two commercial well permits are issued in March. In April, property ownership transfers to Buc-ee's EPCO, LLC, signaling continued interest in the same Monument Hill site.
ADM264 determination request
Buc-ee's asks the County to classify the travel-center use under the existing C-1 zoning. The Planning Director says the code does not provide enough clarity to make the determination administratively.
APP261 appeal filed
Buc-ee's appeals the administrative determination to the Board of County Commissioners.
Board grants appeal 4-1
The Board determines the proposed use may be treated as an allowed C-1 use. The decision does not approve construction.
Rule 106 court challenge filed
Opponents file El Paso County District Court case 2026CV032336 seeking judicial review of the Board's decision.
Stockpile file receives new review comments
County Attorney and Stormwater reviewers post a sixth round of comments on active file CDR261. The travel-center site plan itself still does not appear as an active County file.
Frequently asked questions
What residents are asking now.
Has Buc-ee's been approved at Monument Hill?
When is the next Buc-ee's public hearing?
Is the dirt work on the property Buc-ee's construction?
How much traffic could Buc-ee's generate?
Will Monument or Palmer Lake receive the same tax benefit as Johnstown?
What happens next?
Primary sources & continuing coverage
Development, hearing, litigation, traffic and fuel-price information changes quickly. This guide distinguishes approved decisions from proposals and historical planning assumptions. Verify current County files and posted agendas before relying on a future date, site-plan figure or fuel price.