NORTHWEST TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) — A proposed Buc-ee's near I-10 has cleared all major regulatory barriers and is now moving toward a potential final approval by Leon County's Development Review Committee.
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A county staff review Wednesday determined developers met all requirements, including permanently preserving 131 acres for conservation, planting more than 1,000 trees and shrubs, installing dark-sky lighting, and adding new turn lanes and a traffic light at Capital Circle Northwest.
Leon County Commission Chair Christian Caban says implementing some of those features will be a partnership between developers, Leon County, the City of Tallahassee, and the Florida Department of Transportation.
“We just want to say we're so thankful for the effort and time that they're putting in to really get this project right, and I also got to tip my hat off to Leon County staff,” Caban said.
“They've been working very diligently, working with the Buc-ee's team, working with our neighbors to make sure that this event comes off the ground, but also that it appeases any concerns from our neighbors”
Caban says the goal is for the project to benefit the entire community.
“This going to bring in probably over 200 jobs, high-paying jobs, full benefits. The west side of town, we need this in our community. We need better jobs. This sits right outside the 32304 zip code, which is considered the poorest in the state of Florida,” he said.
Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce Chair Eddie Gonzalez Loumiet sees the development as an economic win, believing it will create jobs and generate tourism dollars.
"As Ricardo Schneider, a good friend, always likes to say, I can take my dollar from Ruvos and go to Lucky Goat and that's great, but when you have new dollars coming into the community, that is true economic development," Gonzalez Loumiet said.
But not everyone shares that enthusiasm.
Long-time Tallahassee resident Ann Bidlingmaier said she is not opposed to a travel center but takes issue with the scale of the project, which calls for 120 gas pumps.
"I think the county is doing a reasonable job, but this project is way too big, and development does not pay for itself,” she said.
“It uses a lot of resources in the county and in the city to permit projects and to complete them, so this is not going to pay for itself. It's going to use a lot of other resources, and people don't realize just the extremism of this project.”
Buc-ee's has not finalized a construction timeline.
Final review of the project will take place at a public Development Review Committee meeting.
No date has been set, but the review is expected to happen before the end of the year.
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