Buc-ee’s will bring bucks, gas pumps and Beaver Nuggets to NC. Why some don’t want it.
A Texas developer wants to bring jobs, tax revenues and more businesses to western Orange County, but some residents said Tuesday night they would prefer anything else but a Buc-ee’s Travel Center.
Buc-ee’s is a “garish, outlandish, oversize Texas gas station, carwash and mega-convenience store that Efland residents neither want nor need,” Efland resident Catherine Matthews said. during a public hearing.
“They violate every core value, every mission statement, every planning goal, everything that Orange County — a progressive county in the state of North Carolina — prides itself on and believes in,” she said.
The 104-acre Efland Station mixed use development and its Buc-ee’s anchor has been controversial since proposed in August for the rural exit off Interstate 85/40 near the Orange-Alamance county line.
Matthews and 19 others who spoke to the county commissioners Tuesday were among 111 signed up for the hearing. Although Commissioner Earl McKee pushed to hear from the rest before Christmas, the board voted to continue the hearing on Jan. 5 and Jan. 12.
The board could vote on the Efland Station project Jan. 19.
The plan from Buc-ee’s Ltd. calls for a 64,000-square-foot Buc-ee’s Travel Center with 60 dual-sided gas pumps between exits 160 and 161 on Interstate 85/40 in western Orange County. It also would have a 185-foot-long automated car wash.
The second phase of construction could add a 120-room hotel and over 223,000 square feet of manufacturing, office, retail and restaurant space. Roughly 40 acres could be open space, and buildings could be up to 60 feet tall, with city of Mebane sewer service and Orange-Alamance water service.
Only the travel center is not allowed under the current zoning. The commissioners are being asked to approve a master plan and a conditional zoning district that could include traffic, environmental and other constraints. If the plan is approved, county staff would approve each site plan as it nears construction.
Buc-ee’s jobs, tax dollars, fans
The Buc-ee’s Travel Center would be the first in North Carolina. County officials reported the 38-year-old company has over 3,000 employees in 37 stores — most in Texas — and 10 more projects underway across the South.
The company is most famous for its snacks, including the caramel-coated corn puff Beaver Nuggets, and for its award-winning “cleanest restrooms in America.”
Her family enjoyed Buc-ee’s when they lived in Texas and would like to see the project built, Jennifer Landstrom told the board.
“They are well organized, well run, the staff is treated well, and there is excellent customer service. We’re always blown away by the food options. It’s not like a gas station,” she said. “We always love going to get gifts for family. Our kids love it very much, and it’s a unique experience.”
Buc-ee’s employees must meet strict standards, company officials have said. Online reviews say work shifts are long — up to 10 hours — with very short breaks and working lunches. However, employees in low-level jobs start at roughly $15 an hour, and full-time benefits include health, dental and life insurance, paid vacations and a 401(k) program.
An Orange County Economic Development report last week noted the $40 million Efland project could bring up to 200 full-time jobs and $25 million in annual retail sales, potentially generating $1 million in property and sales tax revenues for the county. The state also could see $1 million in sales taxes and $6.5 million in gas tax revenues, it said.
More jobs and sales and property tax revenues are anticipated from the second, future phase of the project.
The undeveloped land now generates just $428.78 in property tax revenues for Orange County, because its listed as agricultural.
Anthony Weston urged the county to build on that agricultural identity and create a special commission to plan for the site’s best use.
“I think something quite lovely has happened actually, which is that the Buc-ee’s proposal has awakened us to the idea that something big and transformative could be done with this land,” Weston said.
Efland growth, quality of life
Efland Station would dramatically change the rural Efland exit and the unincorporated community of modest homes, local businesses and farmland that surrounds it.
County data shows the area is diverse, with over half of the 531 residents within a mile of the site identifying as white, 41% as black and 8.5% as Hispanic. Nearly 19% of the residents earn less than $15,000 a year, the county reported. Another 37.4% earn between $15,000 and $50,000 a year.
Many opponents have formed a group, A Voice for Efland & Orange, encouraging supporters to visit their website, email the commissioners and speak at public hearings. About 60 people rallied against the plan Dec. 5 in Hillsborough.
Their concerns range from traffic and light pollution to environmental damage and negative effects on their quality of life.
Buc-ee’s threatens the “beautiful place with lots of trees, quiet, clean and fresh well water, and a night sky filled with stars” that his family enjoys, Scott Buechler said. The business is based on outdated fossil fuels and offers “dead-end jobs,” he said.
“A massive Buc-ee’s with 60 gas pumps and 64,000 square feet of cheesy retail clearly violates the character of the Efland community, which is characterized by farms and forests, relative quiet and the absence of traffic congestion,” Buechler said.
Others voiced support for business investment, jobs and tax revenues that improve affordability. Buc-ee’s will allow residents to meet their needs in town and will support community organizations and programs, Leo Allison said.
“We need to take advantage of this opportunity, because projects like this don’t come along too often,” he said.
Sam Gharbo noted “it could be worse.” The location between the interstate and the railroad tracks already creates light and noise, he said, and only some of what the county could allow will be paved.
“There are jobs. In the following phases, that creates opportunities for entrepreneurs, it also creates opportunities for industries, also for transportation, and revenue for the taxes, because I’m tired of being the leading taxpaying counties in the state,” Gharbo said.
Interstate location, customers
The site has long been marked as ideal for commercial, industrial and high-intensity development. A more recent draft Buckhorn Area Plan calls it one of the area’s “most suitable economic development parcels.” The commissioners will hear more about that in January.
Company officials have dismissed concerns that Buc-ee’s will siphon dollars from Missy’s Grill, the M-Mart convenience store and other local businesses.
Most customers are passing by on the interstate, they said, noting that up to 124,000 vehicles travel Interstate 40/85 daily. Buc-ee’s is expected to attract roughly 11,500 of those vehicles each day, including 800 an hour during the evening commute and over 1,200 during peak Saturday hours.
The second phase of construction could bring 4,700 more vehicles to the site each day, a traffic study found.
That will necessitate changes, officials have said, including two right-in, right-out driveways on the service road that parallels I-85/40 West. Additional driveways would link to the U.S. 70/I-85 Connector and Mt. Willing Road.
Road improvements also could include traffic lights at multiple intersections, modified turn lanes and the closure of an I-85/40 West off-ramp at Exit 160. Westbound drivers heading to Mt. Willing Road would have to take Exit 161, and drivers turning let from Ben Johnston Road would have to turn right and make a U-turn at the new Efland Station driveway.
Environmental, water concerns
Another major concern is the potential for damage to the environment and regional water quality.
Buc-ee’s will have six double-walled, concrete-encased, fiberglass/resin fuel storage tanks, which hold 40,000 gallons each. The fuel storage and pipe systems have sensors that monitor for leaks, said attorney Beth Trahos, representing Buc-ee’s. A breach would trigger an alarm and send an email to the fuel and environmental team, she said.
The Center for Biological Diversity and the Eno River Association have cited concerns about fuel storage and stormwater runoff in letters opposing the project.
Two streams on the site are in a protected watershed between two critical areas for wildlife habitat and water quality, they said. The streams also drain into Sevenmile Creek, which is part of a critical watershed for the Eno River.
“It is clear to me that the residents of Orange County — and the (native, at-risk species) Carolina madtom, Neuse River waterdog, and Atlantic pigtoe — all have much more to gain from seeing these forested lands, open fields, and protected watersheds kept intact for the quality of life benefits and extinction prevention services that they provide,” Center for Biological Diversity attorney Perrin de Jong said.
The project faces additional reviews by the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality and the county’s Commission for the Environment. County staff also is working on the stormwater requirements, planning director Craig Benedict said.
County staff also has asked the commissioners to require additional environmental studies for all future site plans.
This story was originally published December 16, 2020 at 8:15 AM with the headline "Buc-ee’s will bring bucks, gas pumps and Beaver Nuggets to NC. Why some don’t want it.."
