Residents object; planning board recommends denial of car‑wash and fuel station rezoning on West Roosevelt

The Monroe City Planning Board on Jan. 8 recommended denial of a zoning map amendment sought for 2691 West Roosevelt Boulevard, where the applicant proposed a car wash and fuel pumps along with neighborhood commercial uses.

Megan Breithart of the planning department summarized the request: the applicant sought to rezone the site from Conditional District RH Properties to Conditional District Commercial to allow a car wash, gas station and neighborhood business uses. Breithart said the site plan includes a car wash building, fueling canopy, vacuum stations and nine parking spaces separate from fueling/ vacuum areas. The developer requested a deviation from a required 50‑foot landscape buffer to allow a ten‑foot buffer plus a six‑foot fence along one property line; another property line would receive a wider buffer than required. Planning staff recommended approval, stating the corridor is designated Community Corridor in the land‑use plan and that the proposed commercial use is consistent with that designation.

Applicant and engineering representative Matthew Kirschner of Eagle Engineering told the board the proposed rear access to Arnold Drive (in addition to West Roosevelt access) is intended to give motorists a route to the traffic light on Carol Street and provide emergency access and service‑vehicle circulation. “Anyone who’s coming is gonna come in on 74… The people that are leaving going towards Charlotte from the site” would use the rear access to reach the light, Kirschner said.

Residents and neighbors packed the meeting to oppose the rezoning. Freddie Kirk, who lives three houses up from the proposed driveway on Arnold Drive, described the neighborhood as a “quiet, peaceful” 60‑year‑old community with elderly residents and small children and urged the board to reject the rear access and the project. Mary Kate Scurlock, who identified herself as an environmental health and safety engineer, raised technical concerns about benzene and other volatile organic compounds from fuel pumps and underground storage tanks and said studies show elevated air‑pollution and health risks within several hundred feet of fueling stations. “According to the World Health Organization, there is no safe level of benzene,” she said, and she flagged potential stormwater and wastewater treatment problems for car‑wash discharges.

Other neighbors cited narrow neighborhood streets, existing speeding and truck detouring on Arnold Drive, fears of increased nighttime activity near homes, and questions about whether the city’s publicly owned treatment works (POTW) would accept chemical wastewater from a car wash without an on‑site treatment system.

Planning staff said the developer held a December 2024 neighborhood meeting; Breithart said some attendees opposed the project and primary concerns focused on ingress/egress onto Arnold Drive and commercial traffic moving through the residential area. Breithart noted the developer provided a tree survey and mitigation plan and proposed open space above the ordinance minimum.

Board action: After public comment the planning board voted to recommend denial of the site’s land‑use and transportation plan compliance and to recommend denial of the zoning map amendment. The motions — first to deny plan compliance and then to deny the rezoning — were both seconded and approved by the board; minutes record “All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries.” The board directed staff to draft resolutions reflecting the denials for transmittal to City Council.

Why the board denied the request: Residents’ objections to the Arnold Drive access, potential safety and traffic impacts, environmental concerns about fuel stations and car‑wash runoff, and neighborhood character preservation were cited repeatedly during testimony and in the board’s rationale. The board’s recommendation means the matter will be forwarded to City Council with a recommendation of denial; council will have the final decision.

What’s next: The applicant may revise the proposal or pursue the item before City Council; the planning department will prepare denial resolutions and the public notices required for the council hearing.