The City Plan Commission met 08/24/2022. One of the items they took up was a special use permit to remove an old car wash and construct a new car wash on E. Longview Drive near the corner of Northland Avenue and Wisconsin Avenue. The commission ended up voting unanimously to approve the permit.
City Planner Don Harp explained to the commission that the property was zoned C-2 General Commercial and that zoning district requires a special use permit for a car wash facility. The current car wash did have a special use permit that was granted in 1987; however, the new car wash that was going to replace it was going to be much larger and cover land that was not previously included in that original special use permit. As a result, they were requesting a new special use permit under current zoning requirements instead of utilizing the 1978 standards. Staff was recommending approval.
Two people spoke during the public hearing related to this item.
Aaron Breitenfeldt was an employee of Robert E. Lee and Associates which was the civil engineering firm for the project and was at the meeting representing Club Car Wash. He reiterated that they were wanting to take down the existing car wash and build a new car wash. The building and operations would be identical to what was specified in the special use permit for the Club Car Wash being built near College Avenue and Kensington Drive. [The College/Kensington location did generate some opposition.]
The carwash would have a fully automated tunnel wash and self-serve vacuum stations that would be open during their business hours which were 7AM – 7PM in the winter and 7AM – 8PM in the summer. The vacuum stations would not be open outside of business hours.
Aaron offered to answer any questions the commission might have.
The other person who spoke during the public hearing was Bill who was a resident of the neighborhood. The concerns he raised did not seem to be about the car wash per se but rather about the general safety of the area. It was a busy area with a credit union and a grocery store right nearby. Additionally, there was a lot of traffic from the highway. He thought conditions were ripe for for someone to get rear-ended. “It hasn’t happened yet, but I think that’s a because—a piece of luck.” Overall, he felt there was a lack of safety and that the city should work on improving that.
No other members of the public spoke so they opened things up for discussion by the commission.
Alderperson Denise Fenton (District 6) asked if the entrance would be the same for the new business as for the current business.
Principal Planner Harp answered that the current car wash had three driveway entrances along E. Longview Drive. Club Car Wash intended to eliminate the two driveways that were closest to Ballard Road and only keep the entrance that was farthest to the west which they shared with the neighboring property.
There were no further questions and the commission voted 7 to 0 to approve the special use permit for Club Car Wash near the corner of Ballard and Northland.
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=984121&GUID=E4A586C9-51E1-469D-B974-DF13ECA31872
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