By Jessica Alvarado Gamez | jalvarado@denverpost.com

PUBLISHED: September 24, 2025 at 6:00 AM MDT

The city of Lamar is pitching itself as a possible site for Buc-ee’s next travel center, as concerns continue to surface among residents, Colorado officials and Gov. Jared Polis over the Texas-based chain’s proposed development in Palmer Lake.

The mayor of Lamar, Kirk Crespin, posted a letter on social media addressing Buc-ee’s President and CEO Arch “Beaver” Aplin III to consider Lamar for the mega gas station’s next Colorado location.

He said that the travel center would create a “successful link” between Buc-ee’s existing sites in Johnstown and Amarillo, Texas.

“Lamar is a community hungry for economic growth, increased tax revenue, and the infrastructure development that comes with it. We would welcome the opportunity to host a Buc-ee’s travel center,” the letter said.

The Lamar proposal comes after Gov. Polis, along with Sen. John Hickenlooper and Sen. Michael Bennet, signed a letter on Sept.12 asking Aplin to reconsider the proposed Buc-ee’s site as it is near the Greenland open-space landscape.

The “big green open space” that drivers see as they travel along Interstate 25 between Denver and Colorado Springs is anchored by Greenland Ranch, one of Colorado’s oldest continually operated cattle ranches.

In 2000, the state, conservation organizations, Douglas County and ranch owner John Malone agreed to conserve the 21,000-acre ranch to maintain open space and wildlife habitat.

The letter said the state continues to invest in the landscape by building the Greenland Wildlife Overpass on I-25, just north of the proposed Buc-ee’s site.

“We are concerned that a Buc-ee’s development at this site would fundamentally change how the public and wildlife experience this unique landscape. The impact of a 24/7, high-intensity facility would undercut the values Coloradans paid to protect,” the letter said.

“To be clear, we are not asking Buc-ee’s to bypass Colorado. We welcome your investment, and are simply asking you to choose a site outside of the Greenland open-space landscape.”

On Monday evening, Mayor Crespin told The Post in an email that the city, on U.S. 50 in southeast Colorado, has not received any correspondence from Buc-ee’s regarding the relocation opportunity. Although the highway that runs through Lamar is a major east-west arterial in that region, it wouldn’t bring the same amount of traffic that I-25 would as it runs by Palmer Lake.

“Our letter and recommendation was admittedly a long shot, but it was meant to highlight the contrast between communities in the Front Range that are hesitant about growth and those of us in rural southeastern Colorado who are actively seeking these types of economic opportunities,” he said.

Crespin also said in a Facebook post that the city has already begun exploring alternative solutions and is in talks with parties interested in bringing a new grocery store to the soon-to-be-closed Safeway location at 906 E. Olive St.

“These negotiations are ongoing, and our top priority is ensuring that this space does not become another empty commercial building in our city,” he said.

Lamar’s ask also comes after a recent Palmer Lake election.

The Town Clerk’s office has recently certified the results of Palmer Lake’s Sept. 9 special election, confirming that voters approved a measure requiring all future annexation proposals be decided by public vote. The measure passed with 780 votes.

Two trustees, Kevin Dreher and Shana Ball, were also both recalled.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5779773&forum_id=2most#49301018)