Residents of Heritage Hills will not be seeing a new car wash facility built in their neighbourhood anytime soon.
During council’s Nov. 13 meeting, by a vote of 4-2, council quashed a land-use bylaw amendment that would have allowed for commercial development of a multi-use building, gas bar and car wash on the parcel of land in west Cochrane.
Several councillors, however, had issues with the placement of a car wash in a residential area. Joann Churchill was one of those councillors, saying the facility would be better placed in a light-industrial area rather than next to homes, where she foresaw noise being a factor.
The Cochrane Planning Commission (CPC) echoed these sentiments, indicating that a car wash may be ‘too industrial of a use’ to be adjacent to residential development.
The applicant spoke to this matter during discussions with the CPC and council, saying the car wash was to be 12-15 feet above residences north of the facility, and that an eight-foot fence would also be erected to mitigate noise.
A public hearing was held on Oct. 23 to speak to the development of the car wash.
No members of the public came forward to offer any opinions on the matter.
Councillors Ivan Brooker and Ivan Davies both voted in favour of the amendment to the land-use bylaw, citing the fact that no one had expressed any trepidations.
Councillor Ross Watson opted out of the vote, as he was not present during the public hearing.
