Copyright Joliet, IL Patch
The city council is scheduled review the proposed car wash for the former McDonald's site on Roosevelt Road at its Nov. 17 meeting. WHEATON, IL — On Oct. 28, Wheaton's planning and zoning board gave a unanimous positive recommendation for a special use permit for a Mister Car Wash that hopes to open in the former McDonalds site at 2175 W. Roosevelt Rd. Representatives from CWP West, LLC were present to field questions about traffic and concerns expressed by residents about whether the city needs another car wash. The 4,800 square foot development would comprise a business office, a car wash tunnel, 21 vacuum stations for customers and three parking spaces for employees. An eight foot wall would be built near the end of the car wash tunnel to help mitigate noise. Chief among the traffic concerns was the question of when an Illinois Department roadway improvement project to add turning lanes at the intersection of Roosevelt and County Farm Road would begin to move into its construction phases. According to city engineer Joseph Tebrugge, the road improvement project is in the first phase of engineering. Board member Robert Gudmundson told petitioners "When you increase the size of the intersection to County Farm and Roosevelt to what is likely going to happen, I would think that the entrance to this site off of County Farm is very much in jeopardy." As designed the development would only permit a right turn into and out of its County Farm Road access point. Gudmundson said, "Maybe it is allowed to be a right-in right-out but it's awful close to the signalized intersection at that point." "The people from this area are no different than the people from other areas," board member Christopher Dabovich said. "We all decide on the same day that we're going to get our car washed." Concerns about car stacking also came up in the board discussion. Petitioner representative Peter Galski said the proposed development could "adequately stack 25 vehicles." Further addressing traffic concerns, Galski added that it's estimated Mister Car Wash will see 800 visits a day, whereas the former McDonalds saw upwards of 1,500 daily visits. The project's Director of Development Chris Campbell said Mister Car Wash often has staff members direct the flow of traffic. Additionally, he said, staff can adjust the speed of the site's express car wash to help expedite traffic movement. The board and petitioners also discussed public concerns about the number of car washes in Wheaton. Board member Benjamin Blume said, "We've received in our packets a number of comments from people suggesting that maybe a carwash isn't a useful service," though the petitioner asserts otherwise. Galski responded, "At the end of the day it comes down to competition and this is a place where we want to be and this is the service that we provide and we're not the only ones that are up against competition and trying to find locations in similar sites as other people." If approved, the Mister Car Wash location will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. Developers would raze the vacant McDonald's building to accommodate construction. The Wheaton City Council will discuss the proposal on Nov. 17. Mister Car Wash currently has over 500 locations in 21 different states throughout the U.S., including three locations in Rockford area and one in Lockport that is set to begin construction in early 2026
