MEBANE, N.C. — Is Buc-ee's one step closer to coming to the Triad?
Mebane leaders plan to review a request as early as next week about the possibility of Buc-ee's coming to Alamance County.
This past summer, the City of Mebane received an application request from Buc-ee's to rezone portions of frontage properties on I-40/85 and Trollingwood-Hawfields Road.
Bucky the Beaver originally had his eye on setting up shop in another part of North Carolina. In 2021, Buc-ee's considered a 104-acre development known as Efland Station in Orange County, adding 120 gas pumps, 64,000 square feet of retail space, and adding up to 200 jobs that pay a minimum of $15 an hour.
After reaching out to the Orange County Commissioners about why Buc-ee's didn't go through with building the mega-gas station, Chair Jamezetta Bedford said she recalls that the board of commissioners was concerned about the number of gas nozzles in the project.
She said it would have been located in sensitive water areas and there were possibilities of leaks from the nozzles to the cars. Bedford also said they asked about reducing the number and that's when the applicant withdrew.
Mebane city leaders will decide what's next for the Beaver such as if the plan should go to the city council.
Ashley Ownbey, Mebane's Development Director, explained the process, now that Buc-ee's has submitted a revised site plan with rezoning and special use requests for the gas station. Before the requests can move forward to the Mebane Planning Board and Mebane City Council, the site plan must be reviewed and approved by the Mebane Technical Review Committee, which includes city and NCDOT staff. This review involves making sure ordinances and standards are properly met. Ownbey said she anticipates the requests from Buc-ee's will soon be scheduled for a Mebane Planning Board meeting. The Mebane Planning Board will then make recommendations to the Mebane City Council. Public hearings will be scheduled before the city council. then council members will make a decision to approve or deny the requests.
It is unclear when decisions will be made but if Buc-ee's receives final approval, the gas station in Mebane would be the first Buc-ee's in North Carolina.
The closest Buc-ee's to the Triad is in Florence, South Carolina.
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