Even though one opponent of the project tried to convince Gainesville City Council members the city didn't need another car wash, council approved a request to allow for a Tidal Wave Auto Spa at the corner of McEver and Browns Bridge roads.
Council members gave unanimous approval to the request at a voting session on Tuesday, May 4.
Doug Geganto, a resident of the neighboring Cresswind community, spoke against the project, saying he was not opposed to business growth in the city, but another car wash wasn't needed.
"If you start at McEver Road and drive toward downtown Gainesville in two-tenths of a mile, you have a car wash. You go another two miles, you have another car wash. You go - I think it's 2.5 miles - and you have another car wash and you go .3 miles and you have another car wash," Geganto said. He also pointed out other car washes on other corridors in the immediate area.
Geganto also expressed concern about the new middle school being built for the Gainesville City School System on McEver Road, noting that an additional business would add unwanted traffic along the corridor.
Project manager Thomas Wells acknowledged its traffic study was performed prior to news about the construction of the new school, but he told council the car wash would not generate an unmanageable amount of traffic.
"Currently, as the property is zoned...it allows up to 40,000-square-feet of shopping center space. The actual traffic study that was performed for the property only analyzed it at 23,000-square-feet. That study still showed that the Tidal Wave Auto Spa would generate fewer - 23% fewer - new trips on Browns Bridge and McEver roads than a 23,000-square-foot shopping center," Wells said.
Tidal Wave Auto Spa operates express car washes in several states, including 30 such businesses in Georgia, according to information on the company website.
