Vending Blog #8--City Hall Becomes THE Problem, Not Part of the Solution

[Uncle Sam]

We have heard from many different operators/builders that getting City Hall to OK plans for building new or rehabbing a car wash gets very time consuming. The city?s bureaucrats never have enough funds to do what they want, so they try to impose fees or ?kill? a car wash project because car washes do not produce many sales taxes for the city. (at least here in California) City departments move at a snail?s pace, are arbitrary, and use blackmail tactics to get builders to pay for pet projects or desires. Time frames for city approvals usually is at best a year and today I heard of a wash that has been 2 ? years in discussion and is still not approved. And this one is a rehab!!

What does this have to do with a vending blog you ask? When all the city requirements and wishes are imposed on a car wash project, the builder/rehabber usually comes up short of money to do the project as it was conceived and planned. So parts of the project start getting cut as a means of meeting the budget. The vending center is one of those that gets cut out completely or gets delayed until the cash flow from the wash grows. The new computer-controlled vending centers contribute much needed cash flow to the wash versus what any of the old style vending centers do, but older ideas die very slowly. The operators of a new or rehabbed wash are cheating themselves out of significant cash flows by eliminating the investment in a vending center.

Cont'd

 

[Uncle Sam]

We hear about some of the requirements that city?s have imposed on car wash projects: one was the installation of an enclosed handicapped restroom into the equipment room even though the equipment room is not open to the public. The operator had wanted to install one of our small backloaders into the equipment room, but building walls for the restroom removed that possibility. Another time a vending center was not allowed because of aesthetic considerations; it did not look the way the city bureaucrats thought it should look. These changes and requirements can make a business plan fall short when it comes to generating the cash flow needed to make the wash ?pencil out?.

A successful car wash operation these days, it seems to me, needs a modern hi-tech basic equipment package with all the new payment options available: good bay equipment, an in-bay automatic that cleans cars, a good vacuum area, and a vending center in the vacuum area that allows customers to finish cleaning their cars and complements the rest of the wash.

Uncle Sam

 

[MEP001]

one was the installation of an enclosed handicapped restroom into the equipment room even though the equipment room is not open to the public.

Our plans included a simple commode in the corner of the room, but the city said that if we had any restroom facilities that they must be wheelchair accessible. We were able to just eliminate it from the plans altogether.

 

[Uncle Sam]

MEP,

They just eliminate facilities for you or your employees convenience. No rhyme or reason to that kind of thinking. Some investors that I know eliminate it on the plans and then "bootleg" it in after final inspection. One hell of a way to operate!!

Uncle Sam