The Delray Beach Planning & Zoning Board voted 5‑2 to deny a proposal to build a 4,207‑square‑foot automatic one‑tunnel car wash with 19 vacuum bays at 14145 South Military Trail.

Neighbors from Sierra Vista, Conklin Drive and adjacent neighborhoods flooded the podium to oppose the plan, citing groundwater contamination risks, traffic and U‑turn hazards at the nearby Military/Conklin intersection, nighttime lighting intrusion, and noise from vacuum bays. Harry Vogel, a Conklin Drive resident, told the board the engineering plan places trenches “at an elevation of 12 and a half feet, and the water table documented at 14 and a half feet. This guarantees that wash water, detergents, solvents, oils, and dissolved pollutants will enter the groundwater and migrate toward my well,” he said.

The applicant team — led by zoning attorney Matthew Scott and planner Bradley Miller — provided technical studies showing the site meets the code’s traffic and noise performance standards. Traffic consultant Andrea Trautman said the county’s trip‑generation calculation for a one‑tunnel car wash is 166 daily trips and that on‑site queuing meets the 100‑foot requirement. The applicant’s owner, Jeff Fazio, said wastewater would be captured in concrete reclaimed tanks and processed through an oil‑water separator before tying into sanitary sewer.

Board members repeatedly praised the completeness of the technical submittal but said the conditional‑use test requires broader discretionary judgement about neighborhood stability and safety. Several members singled out the intersection’s existing congestion and the potential for queuing to increase conflicts on Conklin Drive. After deliberation, a motion to deny the Level 4 site plan and conditional use passed 5‑2 on roll call.

What happens next: The applicant may revise and resubmit, appeal to the City Commission, or pursue other procedural options. The record shows the denial was driven largely by community‑impact judgments (traffic, noise cadence and groundwater concerns) rather than a finding that technical submittals were missing.

Provenance: Topic introduced at SEG 793 and concluded with the denial vote at SEG 3818.