After imposing restrictions, Edinburg approves a car wash variance

EDINBURG — Three months to the day after the Edinburg City Council implemented proximity and water use restrictions on commercial car washes in light of worsening water scarcity, the council approved of an exception to the new rules.

By unanimous decision, the council on Tuesday approved a variance request to allow Quick Quack Car Wash to build a commercial car wash less than two miles from its nearest car wash neighbor.

Quick Quack will build the car wash at the intersection of Canton Road and Interstate 69-C, just north of the Walmart Supercenter and a retail plaza that houses Harbor Freight and several chain eateries.

It’s that location east of the expressway that, in part, helped convince the council to approve the variance request, despite recently approving a water conservation ordinance that prohibits commercial car washes to be less than a two-mile radius from the next nearest car wash.

“Anything on the east side is always a big plus,” Place 1 Councilman Dan Diaz said before the council voted on the variance request.

“So, anybody out there, bring stuff to the east side. We’re always ready to see something develop that way,” he said.

The council was also swayed by the proposed facility’s water conservation systems, including a recycling system that claims to capture 100% of the water the facility will use, according to documents included as part of Tuesday’s agenda packet.

“I like this project because of the information we have here — 80-90% reduction in the use of the water,” Diaz said, referring to a statistic Quick Quack provided stating their facilities consume substantially less water compared to a person hand-washing their vehicle at home.

The statistic was included as part of a two-page letter that Sak Holdings, the McAllen-based company seeking to open the car wash, wrote to the council on Dec. 6.

“The facility will use advanced reclamation and recycling systems, reducing fresh water usage to only 10-15 gallons per car— a significant 80-90% decrease compared to the 80-140 gallons typically used in driveway or parking lot car washes,” Deborah Sakulenzki, Sak Holdings’ president, wrote in the letter.

The Edinburg City Council is seen during a meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (Courtesy photo)

Sakulenski also touted the value the site will add to the city via increased property tax revenue.

As a currently vacant piece of land next to a self-storage business, the site generates a “minimal tax revenue” of about $2,916 per year, the letter states.

By 2027, when construction is expected to be completed, the improved land will generate more than $25,000 in property tax revenues for Edinburg.

Fully automated and self-serve car washes are not subject to sales tax in Texas.

Diaz said it was those two factors — reduced water usage and the site being located east of the expressway — that convinced him to vote to approve the variance request.

The Quick Quack will be located just 1.3 miles away from its nearest competitor, a Bluewave Express Car Wash whose construction is nearing completion at 1515 S. Closner Blvd., catty-corner to the Edinburg Police Department.

But Quick Quack’s owners say that car wash is actually two miles away for motorists driving along Edinburg’s streets in search of a quick clean, and it would be the first automated car wash on the city’s less-developed east side.

“There are currently no car washes on the east side of I-69C, with the highway serving as a significant manmade physical buffer and barrier,” the company’s letter states.

“This underscores the need for an accessible, eco-friendly car wash to better serve this portion of the city,” it further reads.

A car wash open for business on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, in Edinburg. (Joel Martinez | jmartinez@themonitor.com)

Edinburg had 16 car washes at the time the council approved the car wash restrictions in mid-September, including three that were under construction.

That included an existing and newly opened Quick Quack along McColl Road just south of the Freddy Gonzalez H-E-B.

The company has six other locations in Hidalgo County, including two in Pharr, one each in Mission and Donna, one in McAllen, and another on the way in that city. Quick Quack also boasts four locations in Cameron County.

Meanwhile, despite a recent offer to deliver a small volume of water to the Rio Grande, Mexico remains woefully behind its obligation to deliver water under the terms of a 1944 binational water sharing treaty.

As of Dec. 7, the most recent date that data are available, Mexico is in arrears by more than 1.01 million of the 1.75 million acre feet of water it must deliver to the U.S. by next October.

The combined American ownership of water stored at the Amistad and Falcon international dams stood at 20.1% as of Dec. 7.

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