Chula Vista residents win battle over new car wash

SAN DIEGO (KUSI) – 82 year old Judy Wilson has lived in her home in Chula Vista for 45 years, calling it her peaceful sanctuary.

For years now there have been talks about building a car wash right beneath her home, 43 feet away from her back fence.

It might look like an empty parking lot right now, but the plan calls for a 2,400 square foot building with an 85 foot long car wash tunnel. That includes 12 vacuum stations in the parking lot.

“The noise coming out of that is like an airplane revving up at Lindbergh Field it is so loud” says Wilson.

She’s concerned about the noise, the traffic and most importantly her health, because she’s toxic sensitive. There used to be a gas station here and she says it could have contaminated the soil beneath it.

“When I get hit with something like that, it closes up my throat, I can barely breathe, I ache in every part of my body and I just can’t function right.”

Neil Capin, the owner of the proposed car wash, says he’s gone above and beyond to address these concerns. He’s willing to install a sound wall up, add vegetation and landscaping to soften the noise, and even open an hour later every day.

City leaders gave the car wash a stamp of approval but challenges and appeals quickly followed. Tonight Chula Vista City Council voted 4-1 against the car wash’s construction.