Planning commission tables Clean Express site plan after traffic, easement and signage questions

The Mentor Planning Commission on July 24 tabled further action on the preliminary site plan for Clean Express Auto Wash at 9361 Mentor Avenue, asking the applicant and staff to return with specific signage plans, clarified easement language and other conditions before final approval.

Commissioners said the changes proposed by the applicant to move vehicle queuing away from Mentor Avenue and to amend cross-access easements with adjoining Walmart and Speedway were steps forward, but that questions remained about how drivers would enter and exit the site and how the amended easement would operate if the car wash ceased operations.

Applicant Jeff Plots, of Neff and Associates, described revisions to a prior site plan and a supplemental traffic study: “we're receiving 39 cars at the peak hour and that we're able to process those through our facility,” Plots said, explaining the firm modeled a conservative processing speed to estimate queue lengths. Majeed Makhloof, legal counsel for the applicant, told the commission he had confirmed with the law director that the amended easement paperwork had been posted and that “the condition on the conditional use” requiring closure if backups occur was already in place and had been consented to by the applicant.

Joe Bertucci, a Clean Express representative, said property owners Walmart and Speedway “were provided the site plan for review and approval, both approved in writing,” and described the amended easement as limiting use of the south cross-access drive during the term of the Clean Express lease while preserving default access if Clean Express left the site. Kevin Westbrooks, the project's traffic engineer with GPD Group, said travel patterns to the site were roughly balanced “about 50–50 coming from east and west,” and that splitting arrivals across driveways would keep incremental volumes at signalized intersections small.

City administration staff had recommended removing the emergency bypass lane on the southwest side of the property to avoid added congestion on the adjacent access drive. Commissioners and staff discussed whether the proposal should retain two 10-foot-wide bailout lanes for controlled egress in rare operational failures—lanes that the applicant said would be coned and signed as “Do Not Enter” except when opened by staff to clear the queue.

Commissioners repeatedly emphasized off-site circulation concerns. Several asked for explicit, enforceable signage plans and driveway radii drawings to make it clear to unfamiliar drivers how to return to Mentor Avenue or nearby signalized routes without making unsafe maneuvers. Commissioner Martin said signage and design details should be specific rather than “an allusion to it.” The applicant agreed to work with city staff and return with recommendations; the commission scheduled the item for the August 14 meeting for additional review.

The commission voted to remove the item from the table earlier in the meeting and later voted to table final action on the preliminary site plan pending the specified follow-up. The applicant said operating hours would be 7 a.m.–8 p.m. Monday–Saturday and 8 a.m.–8 p.m. Sunday, and that the business model (membership RFID access) limits one-time customers and helps manage on-site flow.

By tabling the preliminary site plan, the commission left the conditional-use requirement (closure if queuing spills into the public right-of-way) in place and sought precise, written conditions for final site-plan approval including signage, driveway radii adjustments, and a clear depiction of the easement amendment (Exhibit C) showing the temporary closure of south access for the lease term and the reversion of full access should the tenant leave.

Votes at a glance: - Motion to remove preliminary site plan from the table (Clean Express Auto Wash at 9361 Mentor Avenue): approved (recorded yes votes: Commissioner Rossetti; Commissioner Dwayne Varga; Commissioner Hadden; Commissioner Cook). - Motion to table preliminary site plan for additional conditions and signage specification: tabled/approved (recorded yes votes: Commissioner Rossetti; Commissioner Dwayne Varga; Commissioner Hadden; Commissioner Cook).

The commission also noted that many circulation issues raised—such as driver behavior in adjacent private parking and access roads—are ultimately between private property owners, but asked staff to provide clearer signage proposals and to work with the applicant and neighboring property owners before final plan review.