Boca Raton planning board approves car-wash text amendment and clears mixed-use project at 7900 North Federal Highway

The Boca Raton Planning & Zoning Board on Aug. 15 approved a citywide zoning text amendment to regulate enclosed car washes and removed outdated terms such as “auto laundries.” The amendment adds supplemental regulations, off‑street parking requirements and allows car washes as a conditional use in the RB‑1 motel business district for properties with at least 100 feet of frontage on North Federal Highway.

Development Services staff presented the amendment and said it applies to about 111 RB‑1 parcels with the required frontage, of which five are vacant and the applicant’s parcel at 7900 North Federal Highway is one. Staff emphasized safeguards for sites bordering residential zones: required architectural compatibility, a 25‑foot landscape buffer and a 6‑foot masonry wall where applicable, limits on the location of dryers and vacuum stations, a requirement for a noise study, and daytime/nighttime…