LPA recommends land‑use and master‑plan changes to allow car wash at East Lake and Tarpon Woods; neighbors raise traffic and flooding concerns

The Pinellas Local Planning Agency recommended approval of two companion cases to change the future land use and to amend the Tarpon Woods development master plan to allow a car wash at 2551 Tarpon Woods Boulevard in the Eastlake community. Staff said the 1.16‑acre parcel is currently designated Residential Office General (ROG) and as a development master plan‑specific bank; the requested change would reclassify the parcel as Commercial Neighborhood (CN) and amend the master plan to replace the site’s limited “bank” use with a broader “commercial” designation.

Scott Swearingen, long‑range planning manager, told the LPA that the site sits at the northeast corner of East Lake Road and Tarpon Woods Boulevard and is "within the Tarpon Woods neighborhood" where commercial neighborhood uses have been established at the intersection. Swearingen said staff finds the change "consistent with the comprehensive plan, including the Eastlake Tarpon Community Overlay District" and recommended approval; he noted the site is within a wellhead protection overlay and the coastal high‑hazard area, and that site‑level stormwater and wellhead protections would apply during permitting.

Todd Pressman, representing the applicant, emphasized the intersection’s existing commercial character and said the proposed car wash would reflect uses already present nearby. Transportation planner Elizabeth ("Libby") Rodriguez, accepted by the board as an expert, testified that Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) peak‑hour figures show the car wash would generate about 39 inbound and 39 outbound PM peak trips versus about 29 inbound and 29 outbound for a bank, an increase of roughly 10 inbound and 10 outbound peak‑hour trips; countywide trip factor estimates produced up to an additional 399 daily trips, ITE figures were closer to 370 daily trips, and Rodriguez said the car wash peak‑hour impact is “relatively insignificant” from a roadway capacity standpoint because much of the demand is expected to be local to the Eastlake community.

Several residents spoke in opposition, citing concerns about increased traffic in the adjacent Tarpon Woods neighborhood, weekend queuing that could spill into neighborhood streets, noise, proximity to wetlands and Chestnut Park, and the site’s location in the 100‑year floodplain. An online speaker and an in‑room resident both asked whether stacking and queuing could be kept entirely on site; applicants and staff said on‑site queuing and standard site‑plan review conditions (including the applicant’s offered 10‑foot landscape buffer, 6‑foot wall and code‑required tree/shrub plantings along the rear) would be applied if the DMP amendment moves forward.

Board members asked whether the LPA could recommend a commercial designation on an East Lake Road segment that currently operates at level‑of‑service F; staff said traffic impacts are one review criterion for a future land‑use amendment and that this parcel is located at an established commercial node where much of the traffic would be community‑captured rather than a new regional destination. The applicant acknowledged the site has been vacant for about three years and submitted letters from nearby residents expressing support for redevelopment.

The LPA voted to recommend approval of FLU25‑03 (future land‑use amendment) and then DMP25‑01 (development master plan amendment). The DMP recommendation included the applicant’s offered condition requiring a 10‑foot landscape buffer with a 6‑foot wall, trees at 20‑foot spacing and a continuous 3‑foot‑6‑inch shrub line along the rear. Both recommendations passed unanimously and will be transmitted to the Board of County Commissioners; staff noted Forward Pinellas countywide plan map review and standard permitting, stormwater, wellhead protection and site‑plan requirements would apply.