Members of the Boerne Planning and Zoning Commission can expect a packed house Sept. 8 when they consider a request to rezone a near-4-acre tract for enlarging the proposed Buc-ee's store’s footprint along westbound Interstate 10 at the South Main Street juncture.
Residents continue to voice opposition to several facets of the mammoth convenience store's plans to build in the area, heard most recently at the Aug. 26 Boerne City Council meeting.
Although there was no agenda item and no council discussion of any Buc-ee's-related topics, residents took their three minutes to let council know how they feel about plans to open the store sometime in mid-to-late 2026.
Paula Riekert said she does not oppose Buc-ee's, but questions the mega gas station’s “impact on our dark skies, our clean air, our efficient traffic flows and our public safety.”
She highlighted a portion of the original contract signed nine years ago, stating Buc-ee's must adhere to ordinances past and present, and should not be exempt from ordinances established since that 2016 pact was signed.
Resident Kelly Kuhl questioned how Buc-ee's received a variance on a sign ordinance that, in 2017, limited signage to 40 feet tall and 100 square feet in size.
At an Oct, 24, 2017, meeting, Kuhl said, the then-City Council denied two variances to the sign limitations. However, in April 2018, approval for the measure “came from an undocumented, unelected sign ordinance committee, which ignored the vote of elected officials, and stated they were in favor of allowing the variance,” she said.
“There’s no documentation in public records of a subsequent vote for approval of that variance,” Kuhl said. As a result, she said, the city should consider the variance as never having been approved, as it was not granted through proper protocol.
Menger Springs subdivision resident Jessica Mobley spoke to the negative impact the Buc-ee's may play on home and property values.
Studies of similar developments in Texas, she said, have shown large convenience stores and fuel centers “can have a negative impact on nearby residential property values.”
Such factors as increased traffic congestion, round-the-clock lighting, elevated noise levels and the perception of a higher crime risk can outweigh any of the benefits of the added convenience. Property sales prices, she said, “have been documented to stagnate or decline 5-10% relative to comparable homes” further from the site.
Mobley, a Boerne resident for the past eight years, lives about a mile from the proposed site.
“This situation has smelled bad from the very beginning,” said Brian Russell, a 13-year resident of Boerne.
“I don’t know how this all got past us. I don’t know why it was so secretive in the first place,” Russell said. “It had a code name, no one was allowed to talk about it. They thought they had it shoved to the side, so it could get too far along before we had a chance to stop it.”
While Planning and Zoning will hear the issue in a few days, any ordinances that need to be approved rest in the hands of the city council.
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