Residents on South Hill will soon have another location to clean their vehicles as a seven-bay car wash plans to open on Ninth Avenue Southwest.
During the July 12 regular council meeting, city council voted unanimously to approve a discretionary use application for a car wash business at 885 Ninth Avenue Southwest. However, the company must design the site to accommodate vehicle line-ups and ensure they don’t impede traffic on the street.
C&S Builders Ltd. applied on behalf of the property owners, who want to build a 558-square-metre (6,200-square-foot) car wash in the C1 neighbourhood commercial district. The property — three lots totalling 18,250 square feet — is intended to provide commercial space in neighbourhoods and ensure residents’ needs are met.
The property was previously a service station, which caused site contamination, a council report explained. Several discretionary uses have been approved there since then, including a daycare centre. However, the daycare closed in 2010 and the building was demolished, leaving the property vacant for 11 years.
The property owners provided city hall with an environmental site assessment in late 2020, which stated that the contamination levels are below the standards set by the Ministry of Environment.
The zoning bylaw sets out several criteria that must be met before discretionary use applications are approved, such as:
- The proposal conforms to the Official Community Plan (OCP) and any other land-use plan recommendations
- There must be demand for the proposed use in the area and a limited supply of land available to accommodate the proposed use. The closest car wash is three blocks north of the proposed location, while the nearest location where a car wash would usually be permitted is about 550 metres away
- Existing community infrastructure must be able to service the proposed development economically
- The proposal must not be detrimental to the health, safety, convenience, or general welfare of residents living or working in the area
According to the discretionary use application that C&S Builders submitted, the car wash could also include a pet wash area and bottled water dispenser location. Further, office or residential space over the middle area of the office below could also be included.
“The proposal meets all zoning bylaw requirements,” Michelle Sanson, director of planning and development, said during the meeting.
Sanson indicated that several residents submitted emails with concerns, such as traffic increases, snow removal, sanitary sewer impacts, handling chemicals on-site, and sidewalk repairs. Yet, city administration believes the developer has addressed those issues, so it recommended approval of the project.
She added that city administration responded to the emails and received no responses, likely indicating that those residents were satisfied with the answers.
“That lot has been empty for a long time. It is part of my neighbourhood and I have no problem with it being there,” said Coun. Heather Eby. “I hope no one else has a problem (either).”
There is only one other car wash on South Hill near Sixth Avenue Southwest and Home Street, Coun. Crystal Froese said. This new vehicle wash venue will have seven bays, which will be handy for residents living in and around that area.
The next regular council meeting is Monday, July 26.
