San Diego to Allow Student Carwashes
After spirited protests by high school students, the city attorney Monday announced that fund-raising carwashes by students and other nonprofit groups are exempt from a rule meant to keep soapsuds out of storm drains.
The ruling by City Atty. John Witt ends a mini-controversy that flared when a city official sent a letter to the school superintendent requesting that such carwashes be curtailed, lest the runoff pollute the ocean and Mission Bay.
Led by Councilman Scott Harvey, 100 high school students participated in a protest carwash Friday.
On Monday, Witt released a memo saying that fund-raising carwashes fit the definition of “non-commercial” activities that are exempt from the city’s storm-drain rules. “Common sense is alive and well,” Harvey said.
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