PARMA, Ohio — The fate of car washes in Northeast Ohio is drawing more red flags and there’s a growing number of ordinances working to keep new car washes from opening in various cities, including Parma, Parma Heights, Stow, and Streetsboro.
As controversy continues to bubble up, city officials question, “How much is too much?”
City Councilwoman of Ward Four, Kelly Zacharias, says council has researched all variables looking at the number of current car washes within city limits, the city’s population, and the local demand.
According to the International Wash Association, a new car wash creates about five to 20 local jobs. However, Zacharias and other council members argue other businesses may make better use of the vacant spaces. Zacharias told News 5, the city has about a dozen car washes up and running, but the applications for more are piling up. She said the requests for some notes putting a car wash down side streets, next to homes, and tearing down nearby homes.
“It's a limited need. They tend to be fairly self-sufficient. Most of the equipment is automated, so there's maybe a handful of employment. So, it's creating some jobs, but not too many,” said Zacharias. “Ten, 20 years from now, say, if one of them were to go out of business, there's not too many things that a car wash can be repurposed.”
Just last year, Parma passed a moratorium to hold off on pending car washes and it was just extended, which banned car washes to commercial and industrial districts depending on approved zoning variance.
“As far as I know, nobody else on council has been hearing from anybody requesting more car washes,” Zacharias said.
It all seems practical. Yet, Michael Goldberg, Associate Professor of Design and Innovation at the School of Management at Case Western Reserve University, says these ordinances could be a problem.
“I think cities have to be cautious when they get into the decision-making about what kind of businesses they want in their community,” he said. “If you get into the business of overregulating, you may prevent businesses from coming at all.”
Goldberg refers to these businesses as low-employee businesses, which carry various complaints, making them hard for neighboring businesses.
“One of the complaints around car washes has been particularly ones that are, you know, in in a more vibrant part of the communities is like they have equipment that makes loud noise. There's sort of water off,” said Goldberg. “Sometimes it's you have to take what you can get versus having a bunch of abandoned properties or sort of empty spaces in the community.”
