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October 15, 2019 <br /> <br />Santa Ana City Council <br />20 Civic Center Plaza <br />Santa Ana, CA 92701 <br /> <br />RE: Moratorium on Car Washes <br /> <br />Dear City Councilmembers: <br /> <br />I would like to ask you to adopt a moratorium on new car washes in the City of Santa Ana <br />in order to develop standards that will limit their negative impact on our residents. <br />Currently, there are at least 22 existing car washes in Santa Ana. In Santa Ana’s 27 <br />square miles, that is about one car wash per 1.2 square miles. In neighboring Anaheim, <br />there are at least 16 existing car washes within its 50 square miles, which is about one <br />car wash for every 3.1 square miles. <br /> <br />There are more car washes in Santa Ana than the total locations for McDonald’s, Taco <br />Bell, and Burger King in Santa Ana, and the amount of those fast food establishments in <br />Santa Ana feels overwhelming. <br /> <br />The environmental impacts of car washes, such as the harmful chemicals contained in <br />the soap, which becomes mixed with the dirt and grease removed from the cars, ends up <br />contaminating the soil underneath the car washes and our City’s underground water <br />supply, which affects our drinking water. I want Santa Ana to continue to make the news <br />for winning awards for having the best-tasting water, not the most contaminated water. <br /> <br />Twenty-two is a significant amount of locations for a use that provides our City little <br />economic benefit since there are minimal sales tax revenues generated from car washes. <br />The locations of many of these car washes result in the loss of some of the more desirable <br />commercial sites throughout the City. <br /> <br />Multiple cities in San Diego County and the Inland Empire have recognized the impacts <br />of having too many car washes and have passed moratoriums to develop standards that <br />limit their negative impacts. I hope that Santa Ana will do the same. <br /> <br /> <br />Sincerely, <br /> <br /> <br />Phil Bacerra