Planning commission recommends council consider special-use permit for car wash at 2464 Marina Bay Drive

League City Planning & Zoning Commission members voted to recommend that City Council consider a special-use permit (SUP 240005) for a single-tunnel car wash on a 1.31-acre parcel at 2464 Marina Bay Drive.

The car-wash proposal calls for a tunnel-style automatic wash with 16 self-service vacuum stations, a pay station building the applicant asked to expand to roughly 20 by 13 feet to include an ADA restroom and an attendant area, and vehicle access from Marina Bay Drive (FM 2094) with a limited, angled exit onto Davis Road. The applicant requested a variance to reduce the required 15-foot setback to 5 feet because easements (sidewalk, sanitary sewer and pipeline) constrain developable area. Staff recommended approval with conditions that include SUP expiration language, limiting the SUP to a car-wash use, adherence to the submitted site layout and elevations, and additional landscaping and signage requirements to mitigate the reduced setback.

Planning Manager Mark Lanishman told commissioners the tract was formerly city-owned and was rezoned for commercial development after the city determined much of the parcel was not suitable to remain as open space. He said the site is consistent with other land uses along the FM 2094 corridor. Lanishman also summarized the car-wash market in the area: three existing car washes on the immediate corridor, one additional proposal previously considered by the commission and, within a three-mile radius, a total of 12 existing car washes and one proposed. He said traffic review considered the site's median cut and that Marina Bay Drive access is intended to operate as right-in/right-out with an angled exit toward Davis Road.

An applicant representative, Adil of McMo Design, explained the only substantive change to the plan submitted the morning of the meeting was an increase in the size of the pay-station building to provide an ADA restroom and space for an attendant to assist patrons. No members of the public spoke during the hearing on this item.

Commissioners asked about queuing, ingress/egress, traffic effects near nearby schools and visual screening. Staff said the traffic engineer had reviewed the proposal and that the Davis Road exit would be controlled by geometry (an angled exit) and signage; staff also described proposed “heavier” landscaping along the southern property line to screen the site where the setback variance is requested. The commission also discussed the number of nearby car washes and said market factors and City Council decisions will shape whether multiple proposals go forward.

A motion to recommend approval with staff recommendations passed; the commission recorded one opposing vote. The recommendation will be forwarded to City Council for consideration.

The SUP application materials and the applicant’s revised pay-station drawing were entered into the record. If City Council approves the SUP, the applicant must comply with the site plan, landscaping and signage conditions set by staff and the city’s Unified Development Code.