IRVINE : Carwash Proposal Returning to City Council

A modified proposal for a combination carwash and gas station returns to the City Council for a third time tonight, 14 months after it was first rejected by the council following heated opposition from residents.

Despite the elimination of a lube shop from the latest proposal, residents who live near the planned site at Culver and Michelson drives have vowed to continue their fight against the project.

“I don’t see how the City Council could approve something they’ve turned down twice before,” said Charles Gardner, a resident of the San Joaquin Villas condominiums near the proposed development site.

Gardner said that about 100 residents have signed a petition in opposition to the project, which they fear would generate noise and increase traffic congestion. “People are scared to death that their property values are going to go into the tank,” Gardner said.

The latest version of the project won Planning Commission approval in October. It was the third time the project had been approved by the commission.

Developer J.M. Burnstine, a Newport Beach resident with offices in Lake Elsinore, said the project is being mischaracterized by opponents.

“They are describing this project as an autoplex, which it is not,” Burnstine said. “We won’t have any auto repair of any kind. If you call it something that it’s not, then it frightens people.”

The proposed 1.7-acre development would require a variance from city zoning laws, which mandate a minimum four-acre lot size in the neighborhood for commercial developments. A closed gas station occupies the site.