WATSONVILLE >> After months of delays by the Watsonville Planning Commission, Quick Quack Car Wash finally appears to have its ducks in a row when it comes to a new car wash on East Lake Avenue.

The commission voted 4-2 to approve a special use permit for the growing car wash chain to open a location on a vacant site that was once home to the historic Rodgers House next to the East Lake Shopping Center. The decision is final, barring an appeal to the City Council.

An application was first submitted by Vance Shannon on behalf of property owner Bill Hansen in December 2023. Shannon is the director of entitlements for Quick Quack, a Roseville-based chain of car washes with more than 200 locations throughout California and even a few in Arizona, Colorado, Texas and Utah — but none in Santa Cruz County, where its closest locations are in Marina and Hollister.

When the project went before the Planning Commission in November, staff recommended denying the permit because it did not comply with the required 150-foot setback from the boundary lines of adjacent parcels zoned for residential purposes. However, interim Assistant Community Development Director Matt Orbach said that since that meeting — where the commission voted to table the item — the 150-foot setback requirement has been removed from all zoning districts except those designated as “Neighborhood Commercial.” The zoning for the site itself has changed from “Neighborhood Commercial Shopping Center” to “Thoroughfare Commercial.”

“That residential setback requirement was the basis of city staff’s previous recommendation to deny the project,” Orbach said. “Now that the setback no longer applies to the drive-thru facility based on compliance with applicable development standards, as we’ll go over here shortly, city staff is now recommending approval of the project.”

The project went through further delays at the Planning Commission level to allow the council to amend the city’s drive-thru ordinance and for the 30-day statutory waiting period to go into effect.

The vacant 1.18-acre site was once the location of the Rodgers House, a single-family home constructed in 1870 and owned by Carroll and Esther Rodgers. Esther’s brother, writer John Steinbeck, was known to often visit the property. The home was relocated to the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds in 1998 where it serves as a venue for weddings, receptions, business functions and more. Nothing has occupied the site at East Lake since.

Given the project’s close proximity to residential housing, including an apartment on Tuttle Avenue which abuts the project site, the primary concerns raised were over traffic and noise. Orbach said a traffic study was done and concluded the car wash would not pose a traffic hazard since it would capture existing vehicles already traveling along the Highway 152 corridor. However, a stop sign has been proposed for the entrance leading into the site.

Similarly, a noise study found that the project would only bring a slight change in noise density levels, as the area has existing noise generated by traffic. The project is expected to have an 8-foot sound wall along the southern and eastern property lines, acoustic lining inside and a blower inlet silencer to mitigate noise impacts.

The proposed hours of operation are 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, which Shannon said was consistent with other Quick Quack locations. Commissioner Jenni Veitch-Olson expressed concern about the early hours.

“I do think that those hours are perhaps overly invasive,” she said.

Shannon said the hours could not be negotiated because a lot of money had been spent on the sound mitigation measures.

“I would really hate to jeopardize those hours,” he said.

While Shannon said 7 a.m. was not Quick Quack’s busiest hour, he said it did provide an opportunity for parents to get expedient car washes done before dropping their kids off for school or going to work.

“It is a time when people might want to get their car washed,” he said.

Members of the public felt noise would still be an issue even with the sound wall in place.

“We get the wind that comes coast side inland on a regular basis,” said Maria Fajardo. “I wonder what the impact of that is gonna be sound-wise or if it’s gonna have the effect of (a) low-wind tunnel through our apartments.”

Other neighbors questioned the need for another car wash in Watsonville and also raised concerns about water usage in an area that already has a lot of saltwater intrusion. Hansen assured that 98% of the water used at Quick Quack car washes was recycled, and the only wasted water was that which drips off vehicles.

Commissioner Lowell Hurst said it was a project that looked good on paper, but he had too many concerns.

“There’s too many questions, too few jobs, maybe not enough revenue and we’re faced with this tremendous housing crisis in town,” he said.

Commissioner Lucy Rojas wanted to know more about the mitigation efforts being done but felt the information presented to the commission was reliable. She also did research on the nearest Quick Quack shops.

“Both appear to be in a mixed commercial/residential area, so even nearby, there is a model like the one being proposed here,” she said.The commission voted 4-2 to approve the permit, with Hurst and Veitch-Olson dissenting and Commissioner Ed Acosta absent. The decision is final unless appealed to the City Council within 30 days.

In other business, the commission unanimously approved a special use permit for Grocery Outlet to change its alcohol license to Type 21, allowing it to sell distilled spirits in addition to beer and wine.