Council, Planning Commission keep record open for proposed Fields Road car wash amid master-plan and traffic debate

A joint public hearing at the March 17 Gaithersburg Mayor and City Council meeting examined schematic development plan STP-9896-2024, which would demolish a vacant restaurant at 10009 Fields Road and build a 5,106-square-foot automatic car wash and relocate an existing car wash from the adjacent parcel at 10003 Fields Road.

The applicant, represented by Pat Harris of Lerch, Early & Brewer for contract ground lessee WLR Automotive Group, said the plan would include a 5,106-square-foot wash building, 22 vacuum stalls, six standard parking spaces and about 42% green area across the site. “Based on our experience at all of those sites the queuing doesn’t exceed the length of the building,” Harris said, describing membership lanes and a fob-entry lane the company uses.

Why it matters: the proposal prompted a technical review of whether the use fits the City’s 1997 master plan (as reaffirmed in the 2009 land-use element) and whether the site’s busy, highway-adjacent setting makes the location appropriate. Planning commissioners and staff also pressed detailed questions about trip generation, queuing, pedestrian access and whether the new facility would change the character of the MXD-zoned site.

Project and developer claims Pat Harris said the restaurant parcel is about 65,000 square feet and has been vacant since 2020. He told the commissioners and council the proposal would keep the overall mix of uses in the area and said the plan’s setbacks and landscaping exceed code minimums. Harris summarized trip estimates used in the staff presentation as “40 AM, 62 PM, and 97 Saturday peak-hour additional trips” and noted the proposal would not increase the city’s net number of car washes because it relocates an existing facility.

Traffic and queuing analysis Carl Wilson of The Traffic Group, who prepared the traffic impact study, told commissioners the study used weekday counts collected in May 2023 and Saturday counts from November 2024 and reflected current and near-term lane uses. He said the left-turn movement into the site currently operates at about level-of-service B with roughly 13 seconds of delay and that projected future conditions drop to about 19–20 seconds (level-of-service C). Wilson also described a gap study showing many available gaps for turning vehicles and said on-site stacking capacity and the projected hourly car-wash throughput would not exceed those gaps.

Planning commission concerns Commissioners raised several points. John Bauer asked for comparative throughput numbers for the existing and proposed facilities and warned the new wash is a different scale and business model than the current in-line operation. Other commissioners questioned whether a large, vehicle‑oriented facility is consistent with MXD objectives to promote pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use development. Several commissioners and council members said the site’s location—bounded by Fields Road, Washington Boulevard and highway ramps—limits walkability and creates safety and access challenges for vehicles and pedestrians alike.

Responses and possible mitigations Harris and Wilson said the applicant would explore landscaping and frontage improvements with Montgomery County (which owns some adjacent right-of-way) and highlighted proposed sidewalk improvements and increased landscaping on all sides of the property. Councilmembers suggested design alternatives that could reduce conflict points, including changes to curb-cuts and access from adjacent streets; traffic consultants said they had quantified gap and queuing space and would provide further data if requested.

Next steps and official actions The Planning Commission voted to hold the hearing record open until 5:00 p.m. on April 9, 2025; the planning commission vote passed unanimously. The Mayor and City Council voted to hold the record open for the council’s review until 5:00 p.m. on April 29, 2025, with anticipated policy discussion and potential final action on May 19, 2025.

What remains unresolved Commissioners repeatedly asked for additional data on hours-of-operation throughput, the comparative scale of the existing versus proposed car wash, and any off-site traffic engineering to reduce conflict points. Staff recommended a detailed discussion of master-plan alignment at the planning commission level before council action.

Provenance Topic introduction excerpt (patent): “This is a joint public hearing on schematic development plan application STP-9896-2024 ... the applicant is requesting approval to demolish the existing restaurant building at 10009 Fields Road and construct a new 5,106 square foot, automatic car wash facility.” — Samuel Copeland, Planning staff

Topic finish excerpt (record action): “The staff recommends the planning commission make a motion to hold the record open until 5PM on 04/09/2025 ... Move, second. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? That passes unanimously.” — Planning Commission motion recorded; then Mayor and Council motion to hold record open until 04/29/2025 passed 5-0.