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Miramar approves El Car Wash at Miramar Parkway and Red Road with traffic condition to close when queuing spills onto road
Summary
After a lengthy quasi‑judicial hearing, the commission approved conditional use, variance, site plan and appearance board applications for an automatic El Car Wash. The approval includes a condition requiring signage or temporary suspension of operations if queuing extends into the Miramar Parkway right‑of‑way.
The Miramar City Commission on April 2 approved multiple entitlements for a proposed automatic El Car Wash on a 1.5‑acre parcel west of Red Road and south of Miramar Parkway, including conditional use, setback variance, site plan and community appearance board approvals. The commission voted unanimously on each item and added a condition that operations be temporarily suspended or posted as closed if vehicle queuing reaches into the public right‑of‑way.
Building, planning and zoning director Nixon Lebron outlined the application: the site consists of two folios and is zoned B‑2 with a Regional Activity Center future land‑use designation. The proposed operation includes three entry lanes that stack approximately 27 vehicles in total before entering a 4,000‑square‑foot automatic wash tunnel, plus self‑service vacuum stations. Staff and the Development Review Committee recommended approval, and the Planning and Zoning Board recommended the conditional use.
The applicant’s team — represented by attorney Jan Alota and company founder Justin Landau — described El Car Wash’s operations at other South Florida locations. The company emphasized water recycling (a 6,000‑gallon reclaim tank and oil/grease separators), biodegradable cleaning products and noise‑mitigation measures (silencers on blowers and enclosed vacuum producers). The applicant said the site will be cashless, heavily surveilled and will include landscaping and retention of mature trees on Miramar Parkway.
Commissioners and staff discussed traffic, queuing, sight lines, cross‑access easements to neighboring parcels and daycare drop‑off safety at nearby uses. City engineers and traffic staff said the design provides more queuing than El Car Wash’s busiest comparable locations and that a dedicated right‑turn lane will be constructed; engineering testimony indicated the right‑turn lane stacks approximately eight to ten vehicles. Commissioners requested additional directional signage and measures to direct exits away from the daycare and mitigate pedestrian conflicts.
The commission approved each entitlement and the overall project in separate motions and roll‑call votes. The approvals included a specific condition requiring the applicant to post signage or temporarily suspend entry if queuing extends into Miramar Parkway to prevent spillover onto the travel lanes.
