“We have a Texas-sized development, shoehorned into an Efland-sized shoe.”
Hope Horton was horrified when she first heard about a new Orange County development proposal: to build the largest gas station in the world, three miles from her home.
The proposed development is an enormous convenience store and fueling site called “Efland Station,” centered around the first Buc-ee’s Travel Center in N.C., a Texas-based chain that boasts clean bathrooms and vast gas stations. With its 120 proposed gas handles, the Efland location would be 10 times the size of the Sheetz in Hillsborough, and claim the title of the world’s biggest gas station.
In two phases, Buc-ee’s developers plan to build an expansive commercial center complete with a 64,000-square-foot Buc-ee’s building, a hotel, restaurant and bank among other amenities. The 104-acre property would lie along the I-40 corridor near exit 160, which directs to Efland, a town of about 700 people.
Horton, who is a founder of Common Ground Ecovillage, a small, rural community focused on regenerative farming and sustainability near Mebane, was notified about the development in November, despite living very close to the site. She said that many of her neighbors also had not been aware of the proposal. But the month before, the county had already filed Buc-ee’s’ request to rezone the property.
The property needs to be rezoned in order to build the Buc-ee’s, because the proposal is too large and would produce too much sewage for its current zoning. The requested type of zoning would not allow for any input on future plan changes from the community or even from elected officials, but only from the developers and the Orange County Planning Board (OCPB). The county Board of Commissioners has met once to discuss the issue Dec. 15 and will continue to hear from community members in January, voting Jan. 19.
A key factor being considered by the Board is financial gain. According to a recent Orange County Economic Development report, Efland Station would bring in 200 full-time jobs and $25 million in annual retail sales. Both the county and state would benefit from sales taxes, and the state from $6.5 million in gas taxes.
Despite some potential economic benefits, community members of Efland, Mebane and the surrounding Orange County have expressed anger and concern about the proposed beaver-mascotted gas station, which they say would affect traffic, the environment, residents’ quality of life and the reputation of the county.
Several passionate critics have organized into A Voice for Efland and Orange, a group of community members whose purpose is to challenge the development of Buc-ee’s. They have created a website, an Instagram page, a petition to the Board of Commissioners which has accumulated over 5,000 signatures and yard signs among other means of protest.
Environmentalists worry about pollution from the enormous gas station. The proposal sits in the Eno River Protected Watershed and runoff would flow into Sevenmile Creek, which empties into the Eno River. According to the Center for Biological Diversity, several endangered native N.C. species would be threatened, including catfish and salamanders.
“The extensive amount of impervious surface and the associated runoff, in conjunction with the high volume of vehicular traffic, will surely deposit high levels of sediment, toxic chemicals, heavy metals and other pollutants into our waterways and drinking water,” Jessica Sheffield, executive director at the Eno River Association, wrote in a letter to the Board.
The proposal includes six large underground fuel tanks. Buc-ee’s stresses that there has never been a reportable gas leak associated with any of their locations, and that its tanks are made from multi-layered fiberglass with an alarm that detects any breaches.
Still, nearby residents say that the proposal does not align with the county’s written goals of sustainability.
“It’s very painful to contemplate that the county would even think about jeopardizing clean water with toxic and heavy metal runoff,” Horton said. “It’s a big box that provides no real value for the community except to provide fossil fuel, which the county’s long-range plan is to be reduced, in favor of renewables.”
The county’s formal Comprehensive Plan and Unified Development Ordinance promise to “create a local economy,” “promote sustainable growth” and “protect a natural environment that includes clean water, clean air, wildlife, important natural lands, and sustainable energy for present and future generations.” Both must be consistent in order for conditional zoning to be approved.
Ann Talton, a resident of Cedar Grove for 25 years, also voiced her opinion Dec. 15 that the development would cause more harm than good in the long run.
“If this rezoning is approved, the anticipated tax base increases may be more than offset by retarding sustainable development in Efland and North Orange County,” Talton said. “The Buc-ee’s development does not justify the economic and environmental risk to the surviving surrounding area.”
In terms of traffic disturbances, congestion on the surrounding I-40 and I-85 highways is estimated to increase significantly as thousands of commuters stop by the open-24-hours Efland Station every day. With 120 gas pumps, the site is expected to generate 23,000 new trips every weekday, according to Kimley-Horn, an engineering consultant for Buc-ee’s. To accommodate, the plan proposes closing one of Efland’s exits and widening the other.
In other towns such as Robertsdale, Ala., and Denton, Texas, the introduction of Buc-ee’s led to major traffic congestion issues and the necessity for new roads or tolls to be built afterwards.
Earl Llewellyn, a traffic engineer who spoke on behalf of Buc-ee’s at the board meeting, emphasized that all estimates were made assuming the worst-case scenarios and the center would not actually generate much new traffic, instead drawing in customers from people who already frequent the nearby roads.
Beyond these concerns, residents also say they are not persuaded by the promise of jobs and tax dollars. Some say the new jobs in question are low-level and unsustainable.
“They’re advertising the cleanliness of their toilets, so you can imagine what a number of those people who are getting those wonderful jobs are going to do,” Horton said.
As an employer, Buc-ee’s pays around $14 an hour and provides benefits. However, they are also known for strict employee codes and according to Buc-ee’s developers at a meeting for Efland residents, they would bring all managers from Texas, meaning all available positions for local residents would be entry-level.
“The kinds of jobs aren’t guesswork. It’s pumping gas and cleaning out the famous toilets,” said Anthony Weston, a farmer who is part of the Ecovillage. “This is not a future for Efland. When the whole world is moving away from gas, let’s go in the right direction.”
Others say there are already plenty of gas stations in Efland as well as in surrounding towns and Buc-ee’s may outcompete other stores, including Sheetz, Petrol and mom-and-pop stations. The economic benefits of an additional gas station, to them, seem minimal.
“If I buy gas at Sheetz, I’m not going to fill up again five miles down the road at Buc-ee’s,” said Efland resident Laurie Beechman at the board meeting. “And likewise, if I get gas at Buc-ee’s, it will be at the expense of one of those stations.”
Lastly, nearby residents also worry about disruption in their quality of life, whether from noise or lights. Horton, who holds stargazing events in the Ecovillage, has concerns about future light pollution from the site three miles away.
“When Buc-ee’s has very powerful lights over the largest gas station in the world 24/7, we will see that,” Horton said.
She went on to say, “It’s just the wrong thing to be doing at this time in history. It doesn’t do what is in the best interest of our culture: moving forward to a sustainable and life-giving planet.”
As the Orange County Board of Commissioners continues to receive public comment on the issue into the new year, the county’s residents are likely to continue to show their disapproval.
“This is going to exact a toll from our community and our county,” Beechman said. “Let’s tell this beaver, ‘This is not your dam site.’”
Photo by Caroline Chen/The ECHO.
