Ross commissioners table car wash vote for 2nd time

Ross Township commissioners twice tabled the agenda item to give conditional use to construct the Modwash car wash.

The car wash would be located at 7201 McKnight Road.

At the Aug. 15 commissioners meeting, three residents spoke against the development during the public statement portion of the agenda, voicing concerns about the amount of traffic that will most likely impact those traveling on McKnight, Seibert and Kentzel Roads.

The township planning commission did recommend the approval of the conditional use, stating that the application “met the terms as set forth in the Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance.”

Additional concerns were also raised by the engineering firm for the township, Gibson Thomas. Among the items the engineering firm listed in their letter to the board was the plan to have access to the car wash be set up via Kentzel Road, with traffic from McKnight feeding onto an already backed up Seibert.

With a planned 24-car waiting area entry, the number of patrons expected on a daily basis to the car wash could surpass that number and lead to excess cars blocking Kentzel.

“The traffic study presents that there will be over 2,000 daily trips into and out of this car wash every weekday,” resident Charles Tessmer said during the meeting. “Then it goes on to state that there will be no impact to the intersections that are present. Those 2,000 entries and exits, I would assume a very significant portion of those would come from the southbound direction, which means they are making that right-hand turn onto Kentzel, and they are using Kentzel Road to enter the car wash and also exiting the car wash. A slightly smaller portion of those would be exiting the car wash and going up Kentzel Road.

“I have a hard time believing this is not going to have any impact to the traffic, especially the traffic on Kentzel Road and the intersection of Siebert and Kentzel. Kentzel Road is not a modern roadway. It has very limited sight distances; it’s very narrow, as well as the intersection of Kentzel Road and Siebert Road.”

The developers have 45 days from the tabling of the agenda item to respond to the concerns, and most likely make changes to their plans in order to receive approval from the board.

It was also tabled at commissioners’ Sept. 19 meeting.