Classic Auto Group to build car wash on Route 615 in Mentor

More changes are coming to the area south of the Route 2/615 interchange in Mentor.

Classic Auto Group is proposing a 4,691-square-foot, “state-of-the-art” car wash and vacuum stations on about 2 acres at 6985 Center St. (Route 615), south of Classic Mazda.

Mentor Planning Commission on June 14 approved a conditional-use permit and preliminary site plan for Classic Clean Auto Wash. It will be for public as well as the company’s use, said owner Jim Brown Jr.

“It’s a significant investment starting with the equipment,” Brown said. “It’s not going to be your typical, traditional track with a dolly and it pulls your car through; this is a flat conveyor system. It’s going to have the capacity to push 180 cars an hour through the tunnel. It’s all glass. … The areas where you can vacuum your car are glass (and) will have a nice, modern look.”

The vacant Great Lakes Bank building on the site will be razed for the project. The building, constructed in 1977, also had housed Osair, Inc.

The site was purchased in March for a new dealership.

“At the moment, those plans are on hold,” Brown said.

Commission Chairman William Snow asked what happens if the plans start rolling again. Brown said the car wash would remain and another site would be selected for the dealership.

Brown noted that 38 percent of the property will become green with landscaped areas including grass, shrubs and trees.

“When you drive by you’re not going to say, ‘What a pretty car wash;’ you’re going to say, ‘That’s a beautiful building,’ ” he said.

The design is in keeping with the remainder of the Classic campus, said Ronald M. Traub, Mentor’s economic & community development director.

“It will complement the contemporary architecture of the dealerships,” he said.

The owner of Gallery One to the south expressed concern about the traffic that would be generated.

Developers agreed to the city administration’s stipulation that the west entrance into the site from the Gallery One service drive be eliminated.

The final site plan will be on the July 5 agenda. Brown said he would like to begin work as soon as plans receive final approval.

A big construction project is underway nearby on the opposite side of Route 615 for the City Market commercial development.

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