STAFFORD, Va. — In Stafford County, neighborhood outrage has continued to build over a plan to build a Buc-ee's travel station. Now, neighbors have taken their concerns to the Board of Supervisors.
For more than an hour Tuesday night, people who live in the Stafford neighborhood where a Buc-ee's has been proposed came forward to give their local elected leaders a littany of reasons why the travel center wouldn't be a good idea. But building a Buc-ee's in Stafford wasn't up for a vote, nor was it on the agenda for discussion. Concerned residents used the public comment section of the meeting to make their voices heard.
“We’ve already decided if they build this thing we are out of here,” Sean Mathews said to WUSA9 in advance of the meeting.
For the uninitiated, the Buc-ee's chain is a massive gas station and convenience store.
Many of those who spoke up Tuesday admitted that while they love the Buc-ee's brand, they are worried about what problems it could bring to their neighborhood. The site Buc-ee's has chosen borders two subdivisions, and some residents pointed out the vast majority of Buc-ee's locations aren't anywhere close to residential areas.
Mathews and Darla Stencavage walked WUSA9 down to the site of the proposed Buc-ee's travel center off I-95 in advance of the meeting.
“One hundred gas pumps, plus EV charging stations, and the store is 75,000 square feet,” Darla Stencavage said pointing across a currently empty field.
In February, the Texas-based company applied for a conditional use permit for the site in Stafford. County officials said that application is under review. But, they point out the proposed Buc-ee's is still nowhere near a public vote.
A county spokesperson said that if county staff and Buc-ee's management can agree on terms of a conditional use permit, it would begin the first part of a lengthy public process.
Tuesday night, county leaders reiterated that any discussion by planning leaders about Buc-ee's wouldn't happen until November or December.
Mathews and Stencavage both joined the organized group of dozens of other concerned Stafford residents at the Board’s meeting Tuesday. Each resident had a specific topic to cover.
"At the end of the day, these are lemons and the juice is not worth the squeeze," one speaker said. "We have got to do better for Stafford County."
Stencavage highlighted the noise, odor and pollution she believes will result from Buc-ee's. Others discussed traffic and safety. But Mathews wanted to make a more simple point.
“Is this what we want for Stafford? Do we really wanna be known as a pit stop?” he asked.
WUSA9 has reached out multiple times to Buc-ee's corporate management for comment and has no received no replies. The company's permit application says a Buc-ee's would bring more than 200 jobs to the area.
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