The Orange County Commissioners requested several new conditions of the applicants for the proposed Efland Station development, which could include a Buc-ee’s Travel Center.

Requests for changes to the application on the board’s agenda, in which it considered with a vote to rezone approximately 104 acres of county property, effectively tabled either an approval or rejection of the proposed development. A vote to include new conditions for the applicant passed 5-2, with Commissioners Renée Price and Jean Hamilton dissenting.

The applicant now must be given time to consider the conditions settled on by the commissioners and the rezoning will return to a future Board of County Commissioners’ agenda. County staff recommended Buc-ee’s representatives return with changes on the meeting scheduled for Tuesday, February 16.

The application for the project was submitted in August by the law firm Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP. The Efland Station development would be located along the Interstate 40 corridor off Exit 161. In addition to the Buc-ee’s Travel Center, which includes 120 gas pumps and a 64,000 square foot retail center, the area could eventually include space to develop restaurants, a hotel and a bank.

Tuesday’s vote comes after three weeks of public hearings held by the county government to take comments from community members. More than 100 people signed up to share their thoughts with the commissioners, including criticisms of the development’s location on the Upper Eno River Watershed and the Buc-ee’s potential environmental impact.

As many commissioners shared their comments, environmental impact also came up. Several said the construction of a gas station did not directly align with the county’s Comprehensive Plan or climate goals.

One of the main conditions requested by the commissioners is decreasing the size of the travel center. The representatives for Buc-ee’s said the large size of its retail and amount of gas pumps are part of the brand’s appeal to people stopping along a trip. But several commissioners pointed to having fewer gas pumps as a need to help achieve some environmental goals.

Among the environmental concerns includes the proposed electric vehicle charging stations. While the project application for the Buc-ee’s indicates infrastructure for ten charging stations would be included, applicants said Tuesday they could not guarantee all ten would be functional on the day the gas station opens. County commissioners then made the presence of ten functioning EV charging stations one of their conditions, which representatives for the applicants said would need to be discussed with Buc-ee’s leadership.

If the board’s conditions are met and commissioners vote to approve the rezoning, Efland Station will be constructed in two phases with Buc-ee’s Travel Center built first. If all other government approvals are achieved, construction on Buc-ee’s will begin in 2022, with a scheduled opening within the following two years.

 

Photo via Buc-ees.

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