Waterway returns to Ellisville with new proposal

More than two years after the Ellisville City Council rejected its proposal, officials for Waterway Gas and Car Wash presented a proposal to city officials for approval of a gasoline, car wash and convenience store at 130 Clarkson Clayton Center.

In its ruling in January of 2007, after listening to the concerns of numerous residents, the City Council ruled that the car wash would bring additional and unwanted traffic problems at the busy shopping center and surrounding neighborhood. Waterway Vice President and General Counsel Michael Goldman said his company operated a facility for many years at Manchester Road in the city, but he said it was closed because that site no longer worked for them.

"The access and the building weren't good enough," Goldman told the City Council.

So Waterway expressed its interest in relocating in the city to the site at Clayton Clarkson, where several restaurants have occupied the space, most recently Buffet City. The building recently was demolished.

Goldman said the original plan included curb cuts on nearby Oregon Trail and Ozark Trail. He said the main entrance received a great deal of public concern because it would create a lot of traffic on Clarkson Road. 

Goldman said company officials have made some modifications in Waterway's new proposal. Most notably, curb cuts on Ozark would no longer be part of the equation, Goldman said. He said any cross traffic concern on nearby Field Ave. would be gone. Also, the entrance into the Dierbergs grocery store would be widened by putting in an additional lane. 

Goldman said he would like to have a curb cut on Clarkson, but a city traffic report concluded it would not be the best idea, that the best option would be to have entrance on the side streets. Also, the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) is not too keen on that idea, Goldman said. So this scenario still needs to be worked out with MoDOT. 

"If we get approved on the curb cuts, that would make our day," Goldman said. "If not, that would not be economically viable."

Goldman said Waterway’s business would be a good fit for Ellisville.

"What I am really asking is bringing back a corporate citizen who desperately wants to come back to Ellisville," Goldman said. "Waterway wants to be in Ellisville. It's a site where we can be economically successful. But without the front access, we don't have confidence."

Goldman also said the company would like additional hours of operation if the project is approved. He said he prefers the hours of operation to be 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the winter and 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the summer.

At the previous public hearing in 2007, there was rigorous discussion amongst residents about the entire plan. This time, not a single member in the audience spoke either in favor of or in opposition to the car wash. Four residents did raise their hand when Ellisville Mayor Matt Pirrello asked who was against it.