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Owner of Shell station at 2194 University Avenue argues car wash is needed to finance site upgrades
Summary
Applicant Vikash Bansal told the Planning Commission that the automated car wash is essential to cover high redevelopment costs including mandated tank replacement; he described 7 years of work with the planning department and voluntary mitigation such as increased cameras and a higher wall.
Vikash Bansal, representing his parents and a family-run Shell station at 2194 University Avenue, told the Planning Commission on June 9 that the proposed automated car wash is necessary to make extensive site rehabilitation financially viable.
Bansal said the family has worked with the planning department since 2018 and bought the property outright to invest in a long-term improvement. "The car wash is what makes the project feasible," he said, adding the station needs new double-wall tanks to comply with a state deadline and that tank replacement alone can cost on the order of millions. He said the project would not increase the number of dispensers (kept at three) and that the plan includes public restrooms, improved accessibility and enhanced staffing to strengthen safety. The applicant also pledged voluntary measures — boosting a perimeter CMU wall from 6 to 7 feet, installing additional lighting and as many as 16–24 cameras, and offering public restrooms — and noted a peer-reviewed noise study and staff review supported the mitigation approach.
Bansal acknowledged neighbors’ concerns and said the family has removed overgrown debris from an unused corner of the property and committed to working on delivery schedules and other operational practices if needed. Still, commissioners and public speakers raised questions about whether the car wash fits the corridor’s pedestrian-oriented vision and whether non-noise quality-of-life impacts were sufficiently resolved.
