PALMER LAKE, Colo. (KOAA) — In the ongoing dispute over whether or not a Buc-ee's gas station should be built along County Line Road between Douglas and El Paso County is seeing national attention, now from Federal Lawmakers.
Colorado Democratic Senator Michael Bennet has put his opinion in the ring and is siding with the residents of Palmer Lake who oppose the development.
The senator who is running for governor in Colorado's upcoming 2026 election released the following statement on Monday.
For more than a century, Greenland Ranch has stood as one of Colorado’s oldest continually operating cattle ranches — a living link to our history, our open spaces, and our way of life. For those who study the history of the West, or are fans of the Lonesome Dove series, Charles Goodnight often grazed his herds on the grass here. Since then, generations of Coloradans, from farmers and ranchers to conservationists and sportsmen, have worked together to protect this land. They understood that the lands and waters that define Colorado are not just property lines on a map — they are part of our heritage and our future.
That’s why I cannot support the proposal to annex land across from Greenland Ranch for a massive Buc-ee’s development and why I applaud the local citizens there who have organized to oppose it. I have heard from numerous of them in the past six weeks. This so-called 'flagpole annexation' goes beyond a local land use issue. It would scar land that Colorado families have fought to protect for decades, drain our precious water resources, and flood a treasured landscape with noise, traffic, and light. It will affect millions of Coloradans who rely on this corridor, value our wildlife, and cherish the open spaces that define our state.
This is not about whether a company does business in Colorado. It is about where this project should be built and whether we honor the legacy that Coloradans worked so hard to protect. To put this development across from one of our state’s greatest conservation landmarks would undermine everything Coloradans have sacrificed to preserve. It goes against our Colorado values.
Colorado has always been defined by our values — our care for the land and water that sustain us, and our respect for one another as neighbors. Those values remind us that community voices matter, that some places are too important to sacrifice for short-term gain, and that being a good neighbor sometimes means saying no.
We owe it to our children to defend Colorado’s values and the open spaces that define Colorado and to pass on, unspoiled, the inheritance we were given. We don’t get a second chance with places like Greenland Ranch. Once it’s gone, it’s gone forever. And our children will not forgive us if we squander it.
Senator Bennet's Statement comes just five days after the Palmer Lake Planning Commission voted unanimously to table the vote on the Buc-ee's annexation proposal until September 3. The Palmer Lake Board of Trustees was set to vote on the annexation on August 28; however, that will not come until the planning commission has approved the plans.
Watch Our Latest Coverage On The Issue In The Video Player Below.
The ongoing saga of debate and meetings has seen the Town of Palmer Lake become a battleground of local politics, seeing a mayor resign and recall efforts fronted by local citizens since the gas station was first proposed in 2024.
Palmer Lake is set to host a town election on September 9, which will include the recall of two Board of Trustees members, Shana Ball and Kevin Dreher, as well as a ballot initiative that will put all annexation proposals to a vote.
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