Glendale residents work to ‘stop the carwash,’ pushing back against Manchester Road development
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) - A drive around the St. Louis County suburb of Glendale will reveal yards filled with red and white signs that say “Protect Your Glendale neighborhoods” and a link to StopTheCarwash.com.
Following the link will take you to a website created by neighbors on Brookside Drive, which backs up to Glendale Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram on Manchester Road. The dealership says they’ve been a part of the Kirkwood-Glendale community since 1967. But their latest plans for expansion have some worried about the impact to quality of life and property values.
“Everyone wants to protect their neighborhoods and their property values,” said Kevin Kissling, who has lived in the neighborhood for nearly 30 years. He helped raise awareness of the proposal by the dealership to expand their service bays, add a storage facility, and the biggest concern for neighbors, add a car wash.
The carwash would not be open to the public but would just be used by the dealership.
The latest proposal heading before Glendale’s planning and zoning commission outlines a plan including adding a new fence and trees to “provide additional screening and sound attenuation.”
The commission will take up the issue on Wednesday evening and if it’s approved, it will then go to the Glendale Board of Alderman for a final vote.
“I believe it’s the duty of the city to carefully consider what this expansion will do to the residents,” said Linda Craig, another nearby resident.
In a statement to News4, Jenni Belding, the General Manager at the dealership said, “We have always done our best to make sure that we are beneficial partners for the city and its neighbors. And every improvement to our property has been conducted with our neighbors in mind. This renovation is similar to one that we did in 2013, which then was met with similar concerns. However, all parties agreed that the resulting project greatly improved our facility and the neighborhood as a whole. Similarly, we believe that this project will allow us to modernize current processes and provide a better experience for our customers and our neighbors.”
See the proposed plans here.
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