According to an update page on the project, El Paso County has received a request from Buc-ee’s developers to determine whether its use of land would be classified as a convenience store.

The request appears to be the first overture in the company’s bid for county approval to build a second Colorado location at the north border of El Paso County. Buc-ee’s is a Texas chain of interstate-adjacent, supersized travel stores.

The 30-acre parcel has long been eyed for a Buc-ee’s, first through an annexation process with the nearby town of Palmer Lake. After over a year of hearings and concerted opposition, the project was dropped without citing a reason. Several weeks later, an LLC affiliated with Buc-ee’s bought the land, which remains in unincorporated El Paso County.

The latest request is not an application to build. Instead, it asks county staff to designate a Buc-ee’s as a convenience store, which is an approved use under the land’s current zoning.

“This is not an approval of Buc-ee’s, and it is not an approval to build,” read the county’s information page update.

The county’s planning and community development director makes the determination but can refer the decision to the county commissioners. The county has up to 14 days to respond.

The county can evaluate “the function, performance characteristics and location requirements” of the proposed use to decide whether it fits with the established zoning. According to the county’s information page, “traffic, parking, noise, glare, vibration and dust” can also be considered in relation to compatibility.

According to the county’s update, an appeal of the determination can only be made by an “aggrieved party,” which, in this instance, would be the landowner. The issue is not required to be aired in a public hearing, and adjacent landowners do not need to be notified.

The county’s active applications page does not list any activity on the parcels associated with Buc-ee’s as of Monday evening.