Crew Carwash cancels plans for busy Fishers intersection

Crew Carwash has withdrawn plans to open its first carwash in Fishers.

Crew, which is headquartered in Fishers on Hague Road, had filed plans to open a $5 million carwash facility at the northwest corner of 116^th Street and Cumberland Road.

But because the land’s zoning ordinance was revised in 2017 to excludes car washes and other auto uses, the company had to ask the city to amend the ordinance to allow it to build there. Ultimately, the city council would have had the final vote.

The city’s planning department recommended the Fishers Plan Commission send an unfavorable recommendation to the city council, writing in documents that Delaware Commons was intended to be a commercial center that provides careful attention to traffic circulation and pedestrian connectivity.

Staff argued a carwash wouldn’t fit the city’s long-term plan for the area and worried about the extra traffic it might create in an already congested area.

But Crew had been working on the project and tweaking its plans for more a year to try to gain approval and had compiled more than 200 letters of support.

The project was first slated to be presented to the Plan Commission last month, but Crew asked for a continuance. It was forwarded to the April 10 meeting before Crew withdrew the application.

Fishers spokesperson Ashley Elrod told IBJ that Crew is looking for another location in Fishers that would be more suitable for a carwash. Crew representatives were not immediately available for comment.

Crew founders opened Indiana’s first automated car wash, Mike's Minit Man, in 1948 in Fort Wayne. Since then, the company has opened 31 locations across Indiana. It’s been headquartered in Fishers for 15 years.

The nearest Crew Carwash facilities to Fishers are on 96^th Street in Indianapolis, in Noblesville near Exit 210 on Interstate 69, and in Noblesville on State Road 37 at 17115 Mercantile Boulevard.