Montgomery Village News Articles
Spotless Brands proposes Flagship Car Wash concept in Montgomery Village
Spotless Brands, owner of a number of car wash franchises across the country, is proposing to build a new Flagship Car Wash next to Lidl, on the currently vacant plot of land known as “Lot 37.” Representatives from Spotless Brands (contract purchaser), Miles & Stockbridge (land use attorney), Gorove Slade (traffic engineer), and MHG (civil engineer) presented the concept plan on March 23 to an audience of 100 residents who shared concerns and noted they didn’t feel that a car wash was the right fit for the space.
Senior Project Manager Lee May reviewed the concept plan and said that it had not been presented to Montgomery County Park and Planning yet; Spotless was interested in gauging interest and garnering feedback from the community before making any formal submissions. Lee previewed concept site plans that showed approximate layout of the facility on the 2-acre site, queueing areas, drive paths, full-service wash and dry facilities, a self-service vacuum area, and landscape buffering along the perimeter of the property. He noted the whole concept is approximately 12,000 square feet – about half of the allowed 25,000 square feet for the site.
May addressed noise concerns, noting that the loudest area would be where the dryers and vacuums are placed, which per the design, face Montgomery Village Avenue. He also said that they are looking at outfitting the dryers with silencers to help reduce offending noise. He shared a decibel comparison chart which put the facility levels of 50 to 60 decibels well within the acceptable levels per county code. Some residents expressed that exposure to a constant noise level during the 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. operating hours was unacceptable. He also said that about 40% of water would be recycled on site and any chemical wash agents used would be biodegradable.
Traffic Engineer Katie Wagner cited ingress/egress from the site would not change and would utilize the current access points on Montgomery Village Avenue and Centerway Road. For the car wash itself, there would be a queueing area capable of holding 26 cars, with additional cars using the facility at the same time. She noted the car wash proposed significantly less anticipated traffic during peak times than was proposed with other parcel uses in the original Lidl plan. Wagner also categorized most of the anticipated traffic as “pass by trips” – meaning cars already using the shopping center or surrounding roads would use the car wash – and not necessarily add more vehicles to the area. Residents were concerned that the traffic study used to make these recommendations was performed in 2019 and did not include updated counts from Bloom Village or the Village Center developments or anticipated traffic counts/impacts from the pending Lakeforest development.
Additional resident concerns included: traffic backups on Montgomery Village Avenue and Centerway Road and impacts on school traffic; traffic flow through the site and impacts on Lidl customers; emissions from queued vehicles; view of the equipment/facility from the Avenue and the closest homes in Whetstone; water usage and impacts on current utility infrastructure; and competition with existing similar businesses. Several residents described the concept as “no value added” to the community and “not the right fit for the site.”
May welcomed additional comments and feedback via email to
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