Calimesa planning commission recommends city council approve Quick Quack car wash and zoning change

The Calimesa Planning Commission voted unanimously on June 8 to recommend the City Council approve a package of entitlements for a Quick Quack Car Wash at 1168 Calimesa Boulevard, including a zone-text amendment that would conditionally allow automated car washes in the downtown neighborhood commercial district.

Senior Planner Selene Sevilla told the commission the project package includes Zone Text Amendment ZTA 25-03, Development Plan Review DPR 25-01, Conditional Use Permit CUP 25-01, Tentative Parcel Map TPM 39386 and Environmental Assessment EA25-02. The proposed facility is a 3,362-square-foot automated express car wash with a three-lane vehicle queuing area, about 30 vacuum stations, parking, landscaping and related site improvements.

Staff said the parcel map would subdivide roughly 5.24 gross acres into two parcels to create a separate legal parcel for the car wash while retaining the remainder of the shopping center on the second parcel. The CUP would authorize operation between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. and the applicant estimates the facility would employ about 18 people. Staff also presented an addendum to a previously adopted initial study/mitigated negative declaration and recommended, under California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines sections 15162 and 15164, that no subsequent environmental review is required.

Developer representative Vasanti Yokuma (Fountain Head Development) and Quick Quack representative Vance Shannon answered commissioners’ questions. On water use, Shannon said, “we collect and recycle all the water we use other than the small amount that might drip off of a car as it’s leaving the wash. We take it through 3,500-gallon reclamation tanks and use it over and over again. It ends up being about 21 to 25 gallons per car versus 100 to 120 that you might use in your driveway.” He also described license-plate reader systems for members that reduce on-site queuing and said the conveyor wash time is under three minutes.

Kelly Lucia, the city’s Community Development Director, clarified that the proposed zone-text amendment would change the municipal code for the entire downtown neighborhood commercial zone and therefore could allow other car-wash applicants to seek similar approvals in the future; however, she emphasized that conditional use permit review would continue to evaluate operational compatibility such as stacking, circulation, noise and hours.

A commissioner moved that the planning commission adopt the CEQA addendum (the previously adopted IS/MND addendum), adopt Planning Commission Resolutions 2026-07 through 2026-10, and recommend that the City Council approve ZTA 25-03, DPR 25-01, CUP 25-01 and TPM 39386 for the Quick Quack Car Wash subject to the conditions of approval. The motion was seconded and carried by vote; the commission’s recorded attendance at roll call included five members present.

The commission closed the public hearing and adjourned to its next meeting on June 22, 2006. The recommendation will be forwarded to the City Council for its consideration.