Active applications are summarized and updated here. Items related to past proposals, actions, and the prior sale of El Rancho in 2022 may be found under the Archive tab.
Note: While the owners of El Rancho have said that they are investigating moving the "historic part" of the building to property on the north side of US 40 as an alternative to demolition, there are essential considerations that have not been addressed by the applicants, agencies, or at the County planning level (topography, land area and potentially zoning, infrastructure, water, access, drainage, proximity to I-70). For that property, see "Observatory" Details & Links.
Site Development Plan:
(10/8/2024) Case manager response
Related County policy: Zoning Resolution §7. Site Development Plan
(8/7/2024) Owners Buchanan and McAfoos, as 1948 Holdings LLC, have submitted a pre-application to Jefferson County Planning & Zoning to re-develop the First Bank (29240 US Hwy 40) and El Rancho restaurant (29260 US Hwy 40) properties together to form a 5-acre convenience store/gas station/truck stop (#2024 121568 000 00 PA). Significantly, the proposal seeks to demolish or relocate the circa 1948 El Rancho restaurant building. The paved area would nearly double from present, to be about the size of four football fields, and the forested hillside behind the restaurant would be excavated to make room for the service islands. The I-70 oriented development would not serve the people of Evergreen, while the community would bear the profound impacts to historic resources, scenic values, traffic circulation, and community character.
Note: Additional media sources are attached to related subjects under Archive.
Letter: No surprise, the people like the entrance they already have (Canyon Courier, 10/10/2024, p.11)
Exit Strategy: El Rancho Could Become a QuikTrip (Westword, 9/17/2024)
⯈ El Rancho restaurant site considered for new gas station (KDVR Fox 31, 9/14/2024; text)
Community Voices: Evergreen needs a truck stop like it needs… (Canyon Courier, 9/10/2024, p.8)
Developer proposes moving El Rancho restaurant, building a QuikTrip in its place (Canyon Courier, 9/4/2024)
Fate of iconic restaurant in limbo (Denver Post, 8/28/2024)
Active Petition (8/29/2024): 'No' to El Rancho QuikTrip #4288
The proposed truck stop does not serve the people of Evergreen, would profoundly impact the environment and livability of El Rancho, and does not justify the destruction of Evergreen's heritage. This petition is directed toward QuikTrip itself. UPDATE (9/25/2024): The petition, with 1042 signatures and 651 comments in four weeks, was submitted to QuikTrip leadership. Thank you to all who contributed to this effort! The petition remains open for signatures that will be submitted to Jefferson County when public comment is allowed. UPDATE (10/9/2024) So far, 1147 signatures have come from 13 states, and from counties all along the Colorado Front Range; over 80% have come from Evergreen and adjacent communities in Jefferson County. Comments address both the potential loss of the historic building and strong opposition to a truck stop becoming the "entrance" to Evergreen; the word cloud under Community Response is made from these comments.
Petition note: The owners who contracted with QuikTrip have started their own petition elsewhere and have co-opted the phrase, Save El Rancho, for their cause. Their petition asks signers to support moving the building to facilitate the development of the truck stop, exactly the opposite of saving El Rancho. They have created this problem themselves and are asking for approval!
Public Comment (8/21/2024): A pre-application has been submitted to Jefferson County Planning & Zoning to re-develop the First Bank/El Rancho restaurant properties together to form a 5-acre convenience store/gas station/truck stop (case #2024 121568 000 00 PA). The proposal seeks to demolish or relocate the circa 1948 El Rancho restaurant building (see description here and the site plan here). The building has no inherent protections and its fate now relies entirely on the decisions of County planners. The Jefferson County Historical Commission has been asked by Jeffco Planning & Zoning to comment on this preliminary application and the proposed destruction of the site. Please send your comments to the Jefferson County Historical Commission (JCHCChair@jeffco.us) and to the P&Z case manager (afowlkes@jeffco.us).
UPDATE (8/28/2024): The JCHC has provided the following recommendation to Planning & Zoning: "In addition to the unanimous opposition voiced by the Evergreen Community, JCHC opposes the application. JCHC strongly disagrees with demolishing or moving the El Rancho Hotel and Restaurant from its current location and strongly recommends that the building and surrounding area be preserved."
• The Jefferson County Historical Commission's opinion unanimously recommended preserving El Rancho in situ. Their response included an historical overview.
• Golden Today (8/14/2024) included a remembrance by John McEncroe, the former owner's son and a founder's descendant.
• The foothills newspapers featured everyday and historic events at El Rancho as a community hub over several decades.
More than 1100 people from greater Evergreen, the foothills, neighboring metro area, and visitors have signed our petition to QuikTrip, and signers have contributed more than 700 comments. An "unprecedented" number (more than 200 people) contacted the Jefferson County Historical Commission to voice their concerns to Jefferson County Planning & Zoning. These quotes represent a sample of the very clear public response to the proposed project.
If you took a vote, I doubt that very many Evergreen residents would want a truck stop instead of an important piece of our history and a treasured gathering place.
As the President of the Chamber of Commerce, I am all for business development in general, but for this to be the "welcoming" point for our community would be a huge travesty. Evergreen is not a city, we are not even a town. A truck stop combination with a gas center is something that I am used to seeing as a pull off on the interstate. ... Evergreen is a small community who relishes its size and whose main economy is tourism. We entice residents of the communities down the hill and further west to visit Evergreen for that "small town" feel. We will lose the ability to market our community in this way as soon as travelers see such a monstrosity right off the highway. This redevelopment will have tremendous negative implications for businesses all throughout Evergreen. This redevelopment will take an historic looking property and turn it into a blight.
More bright light, traffic and congestion is not appropriate for the area.
What an eyesore in such an iconic site.
This is the front door to Evergreen and the impact on the visual character of our town would be substantially altered by what is being proposed.
There are already plenty of truck stops within 10-12 miles of the location, making this destruction and devaluation of our community and our county truly without benefit to anyone but the property owner.
El Rancho is one of the last remaining remnants of a quiet, rural scenic community that used to be treasured by residents and visitors alike. The ploy of current owner claiming to buy that property to protect it, then proposing to replace it with a truck stop is disgusting.
It is obvious that this site is entirely too small for this business operation, and will cause traffic congestion that will be a danger to the surrounding community. It also destroys a historic landmark that has obviously been mismanaged by the current developers who are desperate due to bad business decisions. Why should our community suffer due to their poor financial management?
The thought of a truck stop like service center in its place may not only line the pockets of the developer, it will negate the character and historical significance of the entire area.
Why should the Evergreen community forever pay for an investors bad decisions? The service center will be a scar on a beautiful landmark, never again to be recovered.
There’s a difference between destruction and developing. This is destruction. How sad to make a commitment to the area and then do a bait and switch and destroy the property and community area. The building and area deserves better.
El Rancho is a regular pleasant meeting place for our foothills communities’ residents as well as an excellent and unique restaurant with irreplaceable history and charm in an area with so few of such venues. We don’t need another anonymous “truck stop.” !! The new owner who proposes doing this is a traitor to our entire foothills community. Shame on him for promising to preserve El Rancho and then betraying us with this proposal!
For heaven sakes if the guy said he was purchasing to preserve, and now wants truck stop, isn’t that a huge LIE, and maybe it would have never been sold to him. Does no one tell the truth, only greed wins?
El Rancho - the exit, the restaurant and the "post office" are historical monuments in this area and we have to simply STOP erasing our history in the name of the almighty dollar.
I was heartsick to hear not only that El Rancho could be torn down, but the added insult is for one person's gain, an awful, unneeded pit stop. Just what the world needs another of. All over the country developers seem to win, seem to have no regard for the lovely communities they permanently alter, often not for the better.
It is the entry to our beautiful mountain town of Evergreen and the path to many others. We love the foothills, they don't all need to look like "down the hill". I know that money talks, but please don't allow this horrible mess to be built up here.
Destroying the El Rancho historical building is like stabbing the community of Evergreen in the heart. It is the entrance into our mountain community and reflects who we are and have been for years. A community that cherishes our history and our mountain culture. The plans to build a truck stop/gas station and other shops across the road will destroy the community’s ambiance. There are intrinsic and more important reasons (than profit) to protect our history and our mountain community identity.
The idea of building basically a truck stop at that intersection, from a pure real estate development stand point, is terrible.
As a homeowner and mountain Realtor I strongly oppose losing an historic icon. And I also believe congesting this area will have irreparable damage to the community at large.
We definitely don’t need more night time lighting, more traffic, more noise, more asphalt and concrete in our beautiful residential mountain community.
The idea of attracting increased traffic to what is currently a gateway to the Evergreen community is particularly concerning, as it would negatively impact both the environment and the quality of life for those who live here.
El Rancho represents a great deal of history and a sense of permanence. It would be a tragedy to allow it to be torn down.
The old El Rancho building is an irreplaceable historic resource. It should be preserved as a historic site - after all, it has been around for 76 years, and has the unique character of log construction that is part of the old Evergreen. It is absolutely unthinkable that anyone would even consider destroying it to make way for a truck stop.
This is the gateway into the Evergreen area. The redevelopment would materially transform the area, let alone have a detrimental impact to traffic, visual obstructions, environmental damage, and most importantly, the destruction of an area institution of 70 years.
El Rancho is so much more than “4 walls” and Evergreen would lose a huge part of its history if it were gone. Please don’t let this landmark be destroyed!
It would be a crime to demolish such a wonderful part of Colorado history!
For over 70 years, El Rancho has been a beloved landmark and a cherished part of our community. Replacing it with an interstate service center is deeply troubling and fundamentally at odds with the character of our neighborhood.
Please consider how much there is to lose by destruction of this property as it stands. There is so much more to gain keeping this iconic structure. The views and ability for the locals and people from all areas to gather is crucial to our community.
We have enough chain gas stations and restaurants, no one wants more of them. It would be totally sinful to tear down such a historical monument to days gone by. We barely have any sites left with so much value to our community.
El Rancho is a beautiful place and we love it.
El Rancho truly is a landmark of our lives here! Say NO to the Greedy Developers! I say No! We all say No!!!!
Do not let some outsider destroy this landmark, just to make a buck. It is wrong and if you allow this landmark to fall as so many others have, we lose another piece of what brought people to Colorado in the first place.
Rezoning: (6/8/2023) Owner Buchanan began discussions with the County regarding rezoning the El Rancho Building property (29260 US Hwy 40) to Mixed Use (#2023 112663 000 00 PA). The uses could potentially include Air BnB units above the restaurant and additional condominium-style housing on the property. The property currently has C-1 zoning that already allows for hotel use, but not for residential use. UPDATE (1/4/2024): The pre-application deadline has lapsed and no further application materials have been submitted.
El Rancho Colorado restaurant:
El Rancho Restaurant to Reopen (Canyon Courier, 11/15/2022)
The restaurant reopened in January 2023. UPDATE (4/10/2024): When the restaurant reopened, it was reported that the new owners had "signed a [10-year] lease and operating agreement with Bonanno Concepts. [Owner] Northstar Ventures will not be involved in the restaurant’s operation." As of April 2024, Bonanno Concepts no longer operates the restaurant (see Denver Post, 4/12/2024). The owner has subsequently said that the previously touted 22% automatic tip, a Bonanno Concepts policy to benefit restaurant staff, has been eliminated (Westword, 4/12/2024). Jack Buchanan assumed operation of the restaurant in June 2024, then closed the restaurant in August 2024.
Sale of El Rancho (2022):
The former owners of El Rancho Restaurant and Brewery filed for bankruptcy (9/22/2022). One, below-asking offer of $2.7M was made and accepted for the property, from "1948 Holdings LLC" (Sherry Buchanan and Todd Ables, agents). The Colorado Bankruptcy Court granted a motion to approve the contract (11/9/2022) and the sale was finalized the next day. The would-be buyers in the court filing indicated an interest in reopening the restaurant in time for the holidays as their basis for requesting an expedited decision. The offer in the filing was co-signed by developer Jack Buchanan (see "Evergreen Gateway"). Ables represents Trans-Bay Capital Partners, a San Francisco-based real estate finance corporation specializing in multi-unit commercial and residential properties. The managing partnership of "1948 Holdings LLC" includes Buchanan and Travis McAfoos (owner of the former First Bank property and the "Valley View Estates" development land in Swede Gulch).
Related:
• El Rancho in Evergreen Hits Market Ahead of Foreclosure Sale (8/12/2022)
