Ferndale planning panel recommends denying special-land-use request for proposed El Car Wash on Woodward

The Ferndale Planning Commission on March 18 recommended that City Council deny a special-land-use request for a proposed El Car Wash and two-story office at the former Tim Hortons site on Woodward Avenue, and the commission voted to table the site plan so the applicant can revise materials and meet with state and city reviewers.

The decision follows a two-hour public hearing during which the applicant outlined site design, water reuse, noise mitigation and traffic analyses, and more than 40 members of the public spoke — most opposing the project because of noise, odors, traffic and safety concerns in the adjacent neighborhood.

The applicant team said the site is roughly 0.7 acres and would replace a long-vacant building with a mixed-use development comprising a tunnel-style car wash, enclosed vacuum area, and second-floor office space the applicant described as corporate offices. Gabe Shukman, the applicant representative, told the commission the company plans to invest about $10,000,000 in the project and described water-reuse systems that recover roughly 90% of wash water. Mitchell (Mitch) Harvey of Stonefield Engineering presented site details, saying the design provides 27 queue ("stacking") spaces in the tunnel queue (and additional on-site stacking and vacuum stalls) and two curb cuts with MDOT sign-off for the primary Woodward access. He said vacuum stalls will be enclosed to reduce sound.

“By bringing the building to the sidewalk, providing the bike racks, the bike areas, the sitting areas, it certainly promotes…