Following weeks of public scrutiny and calls for more transparency, the City of Boerne has released a comprehensive timeline detailing nearly a decade of negotiations, approvals and delays tied to the controversial Buc-ee’s project coming to the city.
The city said the 25-page document is intended to serve as a “living record” of how the development came to be and was dropped before two key hearings — a September 8 Planning and Zoning Committee and a September 23 city council meeting. City leaders will discuss whether they will allow Buc-ee’s to build an accessory parking lot on a 5.155-acre property adjacent to the project site along Interstate 10 and U.S. 87.
Below is a timeline of the project:
Buc-ee’s signs agreement with Boerne
In 2016, the city council approved an Economic Development Agreement with the massive travel center, establishing the basic agreement that the city has been bound to since then. At the time, the 53,000-square-foot gas station was projected to add 175 jobs, according to MySA reporting. Before delays, the projected opening date was supposed to be in either 2019 or 2020, according to the city.
Residents raise concerns over Buc-ee’s
By 2017, the city said in its report that residents, especially near the construction site, began to express concerns over traffic congestion, property values and lighting and noise pollution. Residents said the travel center’s plan to build a sign between 77 and 100 feet tall violated both the Kendall County and city dark sky ordinances. The city, in 2018, then approved a 75-foot Buc-ee’s sign. Residents said the approval violated the state’s open meetings act, but the city had the legal right to approve the sign.
Buc-ee’s construction faces first major delay
By 2020, construction on the new Buc-ee’s had not begun. The city said Texas Department of Transportation work caused the project to be delayed.
Buc-ee’s redraws design plans to accommodate neighbors
According to past MySA reports, Buc-ee’s resubmitted alternate design plans to put its fuel pumps closer to the Interstate10 frontage road, putting some distance between its popular gas pumps and the Menger Creek subdivision to alleviate homeowners’ concerns over noise and light pollution.
Initial work begins on new Buc-ee’s
In July, Boerne said an additional piece of land is in the works for Buc-ee’s — this time, to convert a 3.976-acre tract of land along the I-10 area into a parking lot.
Residents demand transparency from city officials
In recent weeks, residents have grown vocal over the ongoing plans for the new Buc-ee’s. After it was announced that the travel center wants more land for parking, angry residents have showed up to public meetings to express their concerns. Residents sent MySA a rebuttal letter outlining their issues with the city’s report, citing similar issues they have brought up for years. On August 27, at the request of Councilman Joseph Macaluso, the city published a comprehensive document detailing a full timeline on the history of the Buc-ee’s project…