The Sterling Heights City Council voted to deny a conditional rezoning request that would have allowed a Jax Car Wash to open at the long-vacant former Rite Aid site at Dequindre and 19 Mile Road, amid concerns that the project's traffic could conflict with daycare drop-off and pickup at a daycare center next door.
The rejected rezoning would have shifted the 43034 Dequindre Road parcel from its current Local Convenience Business classification to General Business zoning, the change needed for a high-volume automated car wash. The proposed Jax Car Wash site would have been next to a neighboring daycare center. The site's C-1 zoning is designed for low-impact uses like small offices, medical clinics, and neighborhood services, according to C & G Newspapers, while a car wash requires the more permissive C-3 General Business designation.
Planning Staff Flagged Traffic Stacking Risks
The council vote followed a Planning Commission rejection of the same proposal. Planning department staff recommended denial. Planning Commissioner Brandy Wright raised concerns about traffic stacking near the daycare.
The proposed site is on Dequindre Road near 19 Mile Road. The intersection of 19 Mile and Dequindre is otherwise ringed by low-intensity commercial and healthcare uses, including a 7-Eleven and bank on the Sterling Heights side and an urgent care facility and shopping plaza across the border in Troy, per C & G Newspapers' reporting on the surrounding corridor.
Owner Says Building Has Sat Empty for Years
The former Rite Aid building has remained vacant, and Rite Aid filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to CoStar. The property was marketed nationally for three years, drawing interest only from car washes and gas stations.
Attorney Phil Ruggeri, representing the petitioner, argued the $4 million investment would renovate a blighted vacant building. Ruggeri also told municipal hearings that land-use deed restrictions placed on the site by a prior owner had created administrative barriers to attracting traditional office or medical tenants, according to C & G Newspapers. The proposal included a discussion of access to the site.
Council Splits on Whether Traffic Risk Is Manageable
The site is near residential areas, and traffic was among the concerns discussed. Traffic near the daycare was also discussed.
The Planning Commission rejected the proposal. During the planning process, the proposed C-3 zoning drew questions about the parcel's future land use.
A City Wary of Fast-Tracking Commercial Change
The rejection fits a pattern of caution from Sterling Heights leaders on commercial zoning changes. In February, the city council unanimously enacted a one-year moratorium on data center development specifically to update land-use policies dating back to 1978, as Hoodline previously reported. The city's broader development context includes those land-use policies.
For now, the Dequindre Road building stays empty, while the site remains bound by C-1 zoning and the deed restrictions described by the petitioner's attorney.
