Carwash, Town at Odds Over Zoning Violations

STOWE, Vt. -- The future look of Stowe, Vermont's new and only drive-through carwash continues to hang in the balance after the owners and the local board of adjustment failed to come to an agreement last week.

The board declined to take action on Stowe Car Wash's proposal to expand the mini mart and construct an illuminated canopy over a set of new gas pumps.

Board members spent much of the session fuming over several zoning code violations at the Lower Village establishment, which is owned by Bradford Oil. Violations include: the facility is using more parking than it has approval for; the owners have added windows to the carwash and installed a vacuum cleaning system and internally lit signs without board approval.

The violations have gone to the Vermont Environmental Court, but the case has been put on hold pending the outcome of negotiations with the zoning board. The two sides will attempt to reach an agreement on June 19.

The company has proposed to construct a 48-by-60-foot, 18-foot tall canopy over four new pump islands located on the north side of its building. Local zoning officials asked that the canopy be smaller and redesigned to better fit the character of Stowe's Lower Village.

At last week's meeting, Bradford Oil presented a smaller canopy design, measuring 48-feet-by-57-feet. The revised plan also reduced the number of parking spaces from 32 to 29, adding landscaping to break up the aesthetics of the parking lot, and added traffic circulation arrows for traffic flow.

Source: The Stowe Reporter

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