|
Only have a minute? Listen instead
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
HARLINGEN — A car wash boom is leading many residents to brand the city as “the car wash capital of the Valley,” City Commissioner Rene Perez says.
Now, Perez is proposing restricting new car washes from the city’s main streets, where he argues as many as 12 businesses are eating into prime commercial property.
On Wednesday afternoon, Mayor Norma Sepuleveda is calling for residents’ input as commissioners meet to decide the issue. Commissioner Michael Mezmar argues the issue stands at the cornerstone of American entrepreneurial freedom.
So far, the issue is splitting the commission, with Mezmar and Commissioner Daniel Lopez apparently standing against Perez’s proposal earlier this month.
“If you read what’s going on online, people are starting to call us the car wash capital of the Valley, and that’s one thing I do not want to be known as,” Perez told commissioners during a March 6 meeting. “Most people don’t want more car washes. These are the people we represent. This is what they’re telling us that they want.”
As part of his plan, Perez is proposing barring new car washes along Expressways 77 and 83, Ed Carey Drive, Harrison and Tyler Avenues and Loop 499.
“They’re taking up space,” he told commissioners. “We need to diversify. When people drive in, you want them to see all these new businesses for them to come here to invest or want to live here. Eventually, this boom might stop and all these car washes are going to be abandoned and it’s going to be an eyesore.”
Perez argued his proposal wouldn’t infringe on freedom.
“We’re not banning them,” he said. “I think we have enough car washes for the competition. We’re just saying, ‘If you want to come in, go to other roads where they’re not going to be the main things people see when they’re coming into our city.’ We can’t dictate what businesses come in, and I don’t think we really are, because all we’re saying is, ‘You want to come in, by all means come in — invest in a car wash if you want. God bless you. But just don’t do it on one of the main corridors.’”
During discussion, Mezmar described the proposal as encroaching on freedom.
“Let economic freedom reign,” he said. “Individuals and corporations who want to open one put their money where their mouth is and they’re making an economic decision and it’s not our duty to squash their economic decision for a clean business … Too bad we approve every bar. Now we’re going against car washes — improper priorities.”
When Mezmar called on commissioners to hold off on action so they could review information, Lopez and Commissioner Ford Kinsley appeared to cast votes against the proposal.
“I’d rather just vote ‘no’ now and move on,” Lopez told commissioners.
“I don’t know if the commission wants to start picking and choosing which industry we want to start narrowing in,” he said. “Does this commission want to be the one that starts dictating things like that? The same complaint I get about car washes is the same complaint I get about coffee shops — we’re getting too many coffee shops. If people are paying to use it, that’s what they want. Whether I agree with the business coming to town or not, I think it should not be our (decision) to start rejecting them.”
On Facebook, Sepulveda is calling on residents for their input into the decision.
“I’m a little conflicted in terms of whether or not as a governing body we should be restricting businesses,” she told commissioners during the meeting. “This is something that we really need to consider and think about how we want to govern and also balance the needs of the community, the wants of the community. I agree in not controlling and letting economics reign. So I do tend to agree with Mike, but on the other side of the coin, I also agree with Commissioner Perez and that’s because I get so many phone calls and messages and emails from concerned citizens not wanting to have any more car washes in the community. You have to take into consideration what the community wants.”
“There’s that fine line — where do you find that balance where we want to protect our community and continue to grow and have diverse types of businesses. At the same time, I’m a big fan of supply and demand. Car washes are not the devil. They do provide jobs, they do provide a service, and as a community, if we were not utilizing these businesses as much as we do, then they wouldn’t be continuing to open in our community.”
Sepulveda said cities such as Alamo are restricting car washes.
“It is difficult but at the same time there have been a lot of communities that I have seen take this position,” she told commissioners.
If commissioners vote to restrict car washes, Sepulveda suggested barring the businesses from Commerce Street, where officials are planning a roadway reconstruction project.
“I’m not sure which way the commission is going to go,” she said. “If we’re going to go in favor of it, I think looking at also Commerce in District 2. If you’re going to protect all these commercial corridors, that might be one to a add just to protect all that investment we’re going to do on that side of town.”
Here’s the latest update:
