Albemarle County ARB approves Car Lovers car wash amendment with landscaping and lighting conditions

The Albemarle County Architecture Review Board on May 26 approved a major amendment for the Car Lovers car wash at 1083 Ryo Road East, adopting staff-recommended revisions and adding conditions on lighting and final elevations.

Staff presenter Chris said the proposal would remove vacuum islands and add seven vacuum stations and seven parking spaces, and recommended approval if applicants revise the vacuum equipment color and landscaping, provide elevations showing how the vacuums relate to the canopy, and address lighting details.

Julia Flynn Moore of Schimp Engineering, representing the applicant, said the plan revises a 2001 site plan to remove an existing canopy and install seven new vacuums. “We will be adding landscape,” she said, and noted the applicant’s preference for a blue vacuum but willingness to use black as a neutral color. She said canopy-mounted tube lights would likely be less than 3,000 lumens each and that the fixtures are sensor-controlled to switch off when not needed.

Board members focused on visual impacts in the county’s entrance corridor guidelines. One member said an architectural canopy that integrates equipment could reduce visual prominence, while others noted the site was approved before the corridor guidelines and landscaping mitigation was the practical option. Dustin Champ, speaking for the applicant team, noted the proposed lights are about “1,800 lumens” each and argued the illumination is akin to a residential lamp rather than a commercial fixture.

The board amended staff recommendations to require: (1) a south elevation showing the canopy removed and how vacuum equipment will sit on the elevation; (2) removal of the word “single” from the color requirement and explicit recognition that black may be considered a neutral color; (3) striking the staff item calling for vacuums without canopies; and (4) either removal of the tube lighting from the vacuum equipment or demonstration that the lighting is a full-cutoff fixture consistent with corridor expectations. The chair moved the amended recommendation and a colleague seconded; the motion passed by voice vote.

The approval allows staff to review and confirm the revised drawings and documentation. The board and applicant agreed to return with additional imagery or a narrowly focused amendment if lighting details cannot be fully resolved in follow-up materials.

What happens next: The applicant must submit the elevation and lighting documentation required by the amended conditions; staff will review those revisions for administrative approval or return the item to the board if the materials are not satisfactory.