The ‘Car Wash-Dog Wash’ Idea Has Been Turned Down in Brick

A commercial ‘dog wash’ along with a car wash, proposed for 320 Brick Boulevard, the former Pizza Hut restaurant. (Planning Document)

A proposal to replace a former chain pizza restaurant with an automated car wash that would also include a dog-washing station has been spurned by the township’s zoning board.

The board, following multiple hearings, made its decision this week following a round of final testimony at a meeting of the Zoning Board of Adjustment. The proposal would have seen the construction of a drive-through car wash, 23 vacuum machines and the dog-washing station at the site of the former Pizza Hut restaurant at 320 Brick Boulevard.

Joint “car and dog” washes caught on in Europe and have occasionally popped up in Florida. Though the project did enjoy majority support from the board, the 4-3 vote was not sufficient for approval. Because the application required a use variance, a “supermajority” of board members were required to support the measure in order for it to be approved. Failure to obtain a supermajority voting in favor of an application is commonly referred to as a “statutory denial.”

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A commercial ‘dog wash’ along with a car wash, proposed for 320 Brick Boulevard, the former Pizza Hut restaurant. (Planning Document)

A ‘dog wash’ at the Classic Car Wash in Largo, Fla. (Photo: Shorebeat)

Concerns raised by the township planner’s office prior to the hearing included whether noise from the car wash could disturb residential homes adjacent to the property, the proximity of the facility to Kettle Creek and the potential for water intrusion, light pollution since the proposal sought relief from a requirement to build a protective berm around the property, and whether fluorescent blinking lights could distract motorists and have an undesirable impact on neighbors.

The 1.43-acre property was last sold in November 2023 for $1.5 million and, according to property records, was purchased by township resident Robert Viani through the company Cornerstone South Brick LLC.