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Waynesboro planning commission recommends approval of narrow zoning change for car-wash bay doors
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Summary
The Waynesboro Planning Commission voted Sept. 18 to recommend that city council approve a narrow amendment to zoning code 98-4.6.0.7 allowing some car-wash service bay doors to face entrance corridors if buffered by an existing commercial development; staff emphasized the change is intended to address visual impacts, not traffic.
The Waynesboro Planning Commission on Sept. 18 voted to recommend that City Council approve a zoning text amendment narrowing how the city regulates the orientation of car-wash service bay doors in corridor overlays.
Staff presented the proposed change to section 98-4.6.0.7 and said the revised sentence would allow "all service bay doors opening shall face away from adjacent residential uses and away from corridors designated in section 98-3.3.0.2 point b unless buffered from the corridor by another existing commercial development," explaining the amendment is meant to address visual impacts along entrance corridors and not traffic concerns. Staff noted the corridor overlay extends roughly 500 feet from the road centerline.
"The purpose of the original ordinance was to mitigate those visual impacts of bay doors on both the entrance corridors and then also those residential areas," Staff (Speaker 5) said, and staff recommended forwarding a recommendation of approval to council if commissioners agreed the language met the ordinance's intent.
The applicant, Seth Roderick of Monteverde Engineering and Design Studio, told commissioners he narrowed the request after prior council feedback that an earlier proposal was "too subjective." "The feedback that I received from counsel following the previous denial of the previous application was ... it was deemed too subjective," Roderick said, and described the parcel layout that led to the exception. He said the planned facility is "a tunnel car wash" oriented to enter from the rear so service doors would face the backs of existing commercial development (in this case, a Sheetz and nearby Texas Roadhouse), which the applicant argued would reduce the visual impact along Rosser Avenue.
Commissioners asked whether the amendment addresses traffic; staff replied the ordinance is "purely visual aesthetics" and that other code sections govern circulation and site-plan review. Commissioners also asked how the term "buffered" would be interpreted and whether the city had analyzed how many parcels the change might affect; staff said corridor maps appear in the staff report but no citywide analysis of undeveloped second-tier parcels had been done and that application of the exception would be "relatively limited." The staff presentation also recalled a prior related proposal that council denied because it allowed too much staff discretion during site-plan review.
There was no public comment. Commissioner (Speaker 2) moved to approve the text as presented by staff; Commissioner (Speaker 4) seconded. By voice vote the commission recorded the motion as carried and will forward a recommendation of approval to City Council for final action.
The planning commission's recommendation does not itself change the code; the amendment will next be considered by the City Council at a date not specified in the transcript.
