WATSONVILLE >> Four months after the Watsonville Planning Commission voted to table discussion of a new car wash on East Lake Avenue, that application appears to finally be up for a vote at Tuesday’s meeting.

Unlike the previous discussion where staff recommended the commission deny a special use permit for a Quick Quack Car Wash, staff now are recommending the project be given the green light.

In December 2023, the city received a special use permit from Vance Shannon, on behalf of property owner Bill Hansen, for a Quick Quack Car Wash at 632 E. Lake Ave., next to the East Lake Shopping Center. The car wash would operate 7,670 on a vacant 1.18-acre site that previously was home to the historic Rodgers House until it was relocated to the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds in 1998.

Quick Quack is a Roseville-based chain of car washes with more than 100 locations throughout California and even a few in Arizona, Colorado, Texas and Utah. However, its closest car washes to Watsonville are in Marina and Hollister, with no current locations in Santa Cruz County.

The chain specializes in exterior car washes. Customers can check their vehicles in and put them in neutral as they move along a conveyor belt for rinsing, drying and other services as specified by the customer. They also receive free dash wipes and vacuuming service, and can sign up for memberships to receive more options.

In October, then-Community Development Director Suzi Merriam sent a letter to Hansen that the project did not comply with the required 150-foot setback from the boundary lines of adjacent parcels zoned for residential purposes and that the regulations would need to be changed, per a staff report by Matt Orbach, interim assistant community development director. However, Merriam did inform him that the City Council would discuss amending the city’s Drive-Through Facilities Restrictions Ordinance in its Municipal Code at a meeting later that month.

Following direction by the council to bring back potential modifications of the code, the application went before the Planning Commission at a special meeting Nov. 19. Staff recommended denying the project because it did not conform to the city’s setback requirements, Shannon argued that the car wash did not fit the city’s definition of drive-thru facilities, and neighboring residents expressed concerns about noise that would be generated by the car wash.

With only four commissioners present at that meeting, the commission unanimously voted to direct staff to identify dates for a special meeting where all members could be present. With no workable dates when a quorum of members could be available, the item was instead scheduled for the regular meeting Jan. 7.

However, prior to that meeting, Hansen requested the item be pulled from the agenda to allow the council to consider amending the drive-thru ordinance. At its Jan. 14 meeting, the council voted to direct staff to bring an ordinance modifying the Municipal Code chapter to exclude certain zoning designations, including thoroughfare commercial, from the 150-foot setback requirement.

Two days later, Hansen submitted an application with a zoning map amendment to change the property’s designation from “neighborhood shopping center” to “thoroughfare commercial.” The commission approved the amendment in February, and the council voted March 25 to remove the 150-foot setback requirement from thoroughfare commercial, neighborhood shopping center and visitor commercial zoning districts.

With the amendment to the zoning ordinance rendering the setback requirement moot, Orbach wrote that the project now complies with all the city’s location standards. It was also found to be consistent with special use permit and design review findings.

In other business, the commission will consider a special use permit to construct a new 9,884-square foot Body by Hank auto restoration shop at 140 Grove St. next to its existing location which owner Hank Wempe is seeking to demolish.

“The existing industrial building is in disrepair and the site has an accumulation of vehicles and other debris,” Associate Planner Ivan Carmona wrote in a staff report.

The commission will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Council Chambers on the top floor of the Watsonville Civic Plaza, 275 Main St., Watsonville.