Council introduces ordinance to allow car wash bay doors on second‑row parcels when buffered

The Waynesboro City Council opened and closed a public hearing on a zoning text amendment that would modify City Code Chapter 98’s rules for car wash orientation in entrance‑corridor overlay districts.

Planning staff explained the amendment would preserve the current protection that service bay doors “shall face away from adjacent residential uses,” but it would allow bay doors to face corridor areas when the car wash is in a second‑tier, buffered location behind an existing commercial development. Staff said the change applies only to car washes and only inside corridor overlay districts; the planning commission recommended the amendment 5–0.

Applicant representative Seth Roderick of Monteverdi Engineering, representing the prospective car wash developer, told council that typical commercial pad lots in the corridor are 250–300 feet deep, so a bay door 300–400 feet from the street has a greatly diminished visual impact. “A bay door on the backside … is much less so,” Roderick said, arguing the narrower language addresses previous objections that prior draft language was too broad.

Council members asked staff and the applicant about buffers and vegetation between the subject parcel and adjacent residences; staff noted a vegetative screen of hardwoods, evergreens and shrubs. Council moved to introduce the ordinance for final consideration at the council’s January meeting.