Planning Commission recommends allowing outdoor hand car washes at gas stations; staff urges citywide expansion

The San Francisco Planning Commission recommended approval Sept. 18, 2025, of a planning code amendment to allow outdoor hand car washes, vacuuming and detailing as an accessory use to automotive service stations. Planning Department staff recommended modifying the draft ordinance so the change would apply citywide and not be limited to a single business or to the Geary Boulevard neighborhood commercial district.

Planning Department staffer Lisa Gluckstein said the proposal would “allow outdoor hand washing, vacuuming, and detailing of automobiles as an accessory use at an automotive service station” and that the department recommended two changes: remove the requirement that the hand-wash use be in existence on the ordinance’s effective date and expand the change citywide rather than limit it to the Geary NCD.

Angeline Yoo, staff with Supervisor Connie Chan’s office, supported the item and said the amendment “is responsive to small business needs” and would keep a neighborhood-serving service accessible to residents. Several commissioners asked about environmental protections; Commissioner McGarry raised concerns about chemical discharge and whether the site had filtration, saying, “I would question the discharge of chemicals being used into the city system.” Gluckstein and Yoo confirmed the use is separately regulated by a San Francisco Public Utilities Commission mobile-washer permit that sets cleaning-product and discharge limits.

Under the ordinance as drafted, hand-washing would have been limited to businesses already operating on the effective date and to a five-parking-space maximum per gas-station site; staff advised removing the existing-business limitation and applying the accessory-use allowance citywide to let other existing or future hand-wash businesses operate where appropriate. The staff report also notes that hand-wash operations remain subject to SFPUC mobile-washer permit requirements to regulate discharges into the city’s sewer and stormwater systems.

Commission discussion touched on continuing operation while businesses pursue permits: staff said the department typically allows businesses to operate while they pursue corrective or compliance paths. After deliberation the commission voted to recommend approval with the Planning Department’s proposed modifications. The motion passed unanimously on a roll-call vote.

Votes and action: motion to recommend approval with staff modifications passed (unanimous).