Doylestown Couple Seeking Zoning Relief To Redevelop 611 'Eyesore'

DOYLESTOWN TOWNSHIP, PA — A Doylestown couple is seeking relief from the township's zoning ordinance to replace an aging Route 611 strip shopping center with a car wash.

Jim and Susan Lonergan of Doylestown, the equitable owners of 1796 Easton Road, attended the June zoning hearing board meeting seeking a special exception and a number of dimensional variances to redevelop the 1776 Shopping Center at Edison and Easton roads.

Their plan includes subdividing the property into three separate lots, demolishing the existing 13,000-square-foot shopping center, and redeveloping the property with a state-of-the-art drive-through car wash.

An existing Midas Muffler Shop and a 7-11 convenience store would remain.

"Everyone knows that property. It's an eyesore and we want to clean it up," Jim Lonergan told the zoning board. "We want to make the whole property look like it's one property. The landscaping is overgrown and just out of control. We're going to make all the buildings look nice and new and clean. It's going to be like one pleasant place to visit instead of thinking you're coming into this run-down rat hole."

Land use attorney Kellie McGowan, who represented the Lonergan's at the hearing, said the dimensional variances are needed to bring existing lot lines into conformity and to redevelop the shopping center lot.

The 1776 Shopping Center at Route 611 and Edison Road. (photo by Jeff Werner)

The couple will also need a special exception to allow a car wash use, which would replace the existing shopping center. The center currently houses Lil' Dom's Pizzeria, Miles City Vape Shop, All About Vaccums, and a cigar store.

Over the past three years, Jim Lonergan said he and his wife have looked at numerous properties in Bucks and Montgomery counties before finding the Route 611 property.

"To build a car wash you need a property that meets certain requirements. Over the three years, we have looked at a lot of properties. The highest rating we ever came up with was a B. We decided we weren't going to build on a property unless it was at least an A-minus or better. This property came back with an A rating. We're very excited about that."

So why a car wash?

Lonergan, who has lived in the Doylestown area for 30 years, said he likes his car clean.

"I wash my car at home. I also use the car washes here. They do an okay job, but not a great job. I get frustrated when I get home and they are dirty," he said. "We want to build a beautiful car wash. We want to build a state-of-the-art car wash. And we want it for the community so when you come out of that car wash the car is clean, it's shiny, it's dry. And it's a good wash. We've researched what it takes to build a state-of-the-art car wash and that's what we're going to do."

The car wash would be fully automated allowing the customer to pull up to a pay station, ride through the car wash tunnel, and then either leave the property or pull around to a vacuum farm and use the vacuums for any interior cleaning.

"We want it to be something for the community so when people come in our employees are going to be in uniform. They are going to be polite. They are going to introduce themselves. They are going to be pleasant. It's not just something you're going to drive through. We want to build the best car wash for the community," said Lonergan.

Lonergan said he expects to employ up to four people, but typically there will be two employees per shift. The car wash, he said, would operate seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

One of the zoning hearing board members asked Lonergan what consideration has been given to the busy highway at South Easton Road and Edison-Furlong Road regarding ingress and egress and cars possibly backing up or stacking up. "Will you be going into the street at 611?" he asked.

"That's absolutely very important, not only for safety, but you want your customers to be able to pull up and not feel it's a dangerous situation. We want it to be safe so you can slow down, you can pull in and it's safe," said Lonergan.

The zoning board also heard from John Moran, an equipment sales representative with Sonny's, who testified at the hearing on behalf of the applicant. Sonny's is the largest manufacturer and installer of car wash tunnel equipment in North America.

Through a consulting arm of the business, Moran testified that he has been working with the Lonergan's on finding a suitable site for the car wash.

"You typically look for a highway with a minimum traffic count of 20,000 cars because anything below that will struggle to do enough volume and make it worthwhile for the investment," he said. "At this location, you're looking at 30,000 cars a day."

Also testifying at the hearing on behalf of the Lonergan's was Kristin Holmes, an engineer with Holmes Cunningham Engineering in Doylestown.

Holmes testified to the relief being sought; planned improvements to the site, including circulation and stacking lanes for the car wash; improvements along the frontage of the property; and further protections to a riparian zone at the rear of the property.

After listening to the testimony and asking numerous technical questions, the zoning board adjourned into an executive session. Unable to reach an immediate decision, the board said it would announce its decision publicly at its July 17 meeting.

If the Lonergan's are successful in securing zoning relief for the project, they will proceed to the land development phase where their plans will be considered by the township's planning commission and eventually the board of supervisors.