Council approves seven‑bay Rocky Mountain Car Wash despite residents’ traffic and water concerns

The Whitefish City Council unanimously approved a conditional‑use permit on Sept. 2 for Rocky Mountain Car Wash to build and operate a seven‑bay facility on Commercial Lot 1 of the Snowy Mountain Subdivision (zoned WB‑2). The decision followed a multihour hearing that included planning staff presentation, applicant testimony, and extended public opposition from a nearby local car‑wash owner.

Why it matters: The project is in the Highway 93 corridor and residents and competing operators raised concerns about traffic generation, access to Highway 93, and strain on local water resources. Council and staff relied on an engineer’s assessment that trips would be below the city’s 200‑vehicle threshold for a required traffic‑impact study.

Planning staff described the proposed facility as a seven‑bay car wash with four self‑serve bays and three automatic bays, bicycle parking, dark‑sky compliant lighting, and a screened trash/refuse enclosure. Staff recommended approval with nine conditions; the Community Development Board recommended approval with an additional condition requiring a quiet dryer system and best feasible water‑recycling technology.

Applicant representatives said the site design orients noisier equipment toward Highway 93, includes an enclosed turbine for vacuum systems, and that the owner is evaluating quieter dryers and additional recycling technology. Taylor Casperic, the applicant’s agent, told the council the facility would likely generate 200 or fewer vehicle trips per day and that the layout would allow on‑site queuing for up to about 24 vehicles.

Opponents, including Leah Doherty and Dennis Doherty, owners/operators of the Whitefish Superwash across Highway 93, urged the council to require a formal traffic‑impact study and to consider cumulative effects from planned residential lots in the Snowy Mountain subdivision. At the hearing Leah Doherty said Whitefish Superwash averaged 207 new vehicle trips per day in 2025 and urged that count be used in any traffic analysis. She also asked the council to consider Montana Department of Transportation access management work planned for Highway 93.

Staff and the city’s public‑works director explained why a separate traffic‑impact study was not required under city rules: engineers evaluated a similar Rocky Mountain site’s trip generation and concluded this site would be smaller than that example and produce fewer than 200 daily trips. City public works also noted a TIS was done for the Snowy Mountain subdivision overall; staff said the proposed car wash has access to newly built local roads and to signalized intersections, reducing concern about direct highway access.

Council and staff discussed enforceable mitigations: the community development board’s added condition requiring a silent dryer system and best feasible water‑recycling technology was included in the staff recommendation. Staff also noted that rock‑wash operations already are allowed in WB‑2; the council’s approval followed standard site review conditions including architectural review, stormwater review if impervious area thresholds are met, and compliance with fire codes.

What happens next: The applicant must satisfy conditions—architectural review committee approval, stormwater/engineering review if required, and building permits—before construction. The city will enforce conditions tied to the CUP. The project raises questions about cumulative traffic and groundwater/water‑use impacts that opponents asked the city to monitor.

Sources: Staff presentation and planning record at the Sept. 2, 2025 Whitefish City Council meeting; testimony from Taylor Casperic (Performance Engineering), Riley (owner, Rocky Mountain Car Wash), and public comments from Leah and Dennis Doherty (Whitefish Superwash).