Protecting neighborhoods from car wash noise and other car wash impacts is one of the many services provided by Community & Environmental Defense Services (CEDS). If you are concerned about a car wash proposed near your home then read on for guidance to determine if impacts are likely and, if so, strategy options for safeguarding you and your neighbors. If you need immediate assistance contact CEDS at help@ceds.org or 410-654-3021.

While a car wash is a valuable service most of us enjoy, these facilities can be a problem when located close to homes. By “home” we mean an apartment, townhouse, single-family detached residence or any other place where people sleep or go to for peace and quiet.

Noise is the most significant impact when a car wash is located too close to homes. Disturbing sound can come from car wash blowers (air dryers), vacuum cleaning stations, or from customers playing loud music, having loud conversations, or allowing rumbling engines to run or rev while waiting in a car wash que. These same noises may come from vehicles at vacuum stations. A car wash open all night or even until 10 to midnight (when most are trying to sleep) is the most disturbing to nearby residents, especially when the car wash or vacuum stations are near a bedroom.

So how close is too close with regard to a car wash or vacuum station and a home?

Generally, neither should be within 300 or 400 feet of a home.

Just because a car wash is proposed within several hundred feet of a home does not necessarily mean a problem will result. A number of measures are available for resolving potential car wash and vacuum station noise impacts. Keep in mind though that most of these measures will only be effective if they are designed, installed, and maintained properly.

A first step in identifying highly-effective and reliable measures is a thorough noise impact study. The cost of such a study should be borne by the applicant who is seeking the permits and other approvals needed to develop a car wash.

Among the many professionals in the CEDS network are noise experts, such as acoustical engineers. For a modest fee one of these experts can review the applicant study to assess accuracy and determine whether proposed measures will safeguard nearby residents from undue noise.

CEDS can also assist you in finding existing car washes in your area where these same measures are in use. CEDS can then help you determine if, in fact, the measures have been installed and maintained in ways that have protected nearby residents from excessive noise. With this CEDS assistance you can:

• Gather facts that may allay your concerns, or
• Help you convince decision-makers to require more reliable and highly-effective noise control measures, or to
• Convince decision-makers to deny approval because measures proposed by the applicant have proven ineffective or unreliable in preserving the tranquility of nearby neighborhoods.

CEDS and our nationwide network of 200+ Good Attorneys can also assist you in ensuring that any permit or other approval the applicant needs will include enforceable requirements to install and maintain highly-effective and reliable noise reduction measures. But if even the best measures will not resolve the impact, then CEDS can assist you in convincing decision-makers to nix the car wash by denying permits-approvals such as rezoning, conditional use permit, special exception, special use permit, variances, waivers, etc.

For some of the technical background on noise and possible impact reduction measures see the following sections in the CEDS How to Stop Disturbing Noise webpage:

• When Does Noise Become Disturbing?,
• How Noise Diminishes With Distance, and
• Measures To Reduce Disturbing Noise.

Since a car wash is frequently part of a proposed gas station-convenience store, see also the CEDS How To Stop Poorly-Planned Gas Stations & Convenience Stores webpage.