A car culture created the suburbs, so perhaps it’s only fitting that the automatic car wash has a place of honor in the pantheon of suburban buildings.
In Eden Prairie, one of those places of honor may be a busy intersection – Flying Cloud and Prairie Center drives, near Eden Prairie Center – where a Mister Car Wash may be built on property once home to a Burger King.
The Mister Car Wash plan was endorsed 6-0 on Monday, Oct. 9, by the Eden Prairie Planning Commission, which advises the city council.
There’s currently a Mister Car Wash that’s been operating since 1999 just a block north of the corner site, but it’s at capacity and has poor circulation for vehicles, said Mister Car Wash representative Prabhs Matharoo. It would be shut down and sold when the new facility is ready for operation, he said.
In addition to providing a more modern operation and additional capacity, the new facility will be able to recycle 50% of the water used to wash cars, according to the company. At the current car wash, 10% of water is recycled.
The proposed 5,400-square-foot building would be about 1,200 square feet larger than what now exists.
Mister Car Wash wants to put its building closer to Flying Cloud Drive than would normally be allowed by city regulations, in order to improve the circulation of cars through the business. City staff supports the change because the building better screens from Flying Cloud Drive motorists some elements of the site that are less attractive, including the outdoor car-vacuum stations. The commission on Monday agreed.
Three small canopies over attendant booths, separated from the main building, were also endorsed by the commission over staff recommendations. City regulations require canopies to be attached to the main building, but commissioners on Monday said the structures, scaled down by the developer, provide shade to attendants and direction to customers.
Next stop for the development proposal is a public hearing before the city council.
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