Council denies rezoning request for former Rite Aid site
The Sterling Heights City Council on Tuesday voted 5-1 to deny a conditional rezoning request that would have allowed a Jax Car Wash to open at the vacant former Rite Aid property at Dequindre Road and 19 Mile Road. The decision, reached during the Sept. 15 City Council meeting at City Hall, follows a unanimous recommendation for denial from the city’s Planning Commission and a similar recommendation from planning staff.
Daycare access and traffic stacking drive opposition
City planning staff and the engineering department highlighted safety and traffic concerns tied to the site's shared access drive. The property shares an access drive off 19 Mile with a nearby KinderCare daycare that serves approximately 100 children. City staff warned that peak drop-off and pick-up windows at the daycare would overlap with high-volume car wash traffic, increasing the risk of queuing and congestion.
- Shared driveway: Access to site and daycare from same drive off 19 Mile Road.
- Daycare population: KinderCare serves about 100 children on site.
- Engineering concerns: Vehicle stacking could back up onto Dequindre Road, a busy corridor.
"The $4.2 million investment would renovate a blighted, vacant building," the petitioner's attorney said while proposing access restrictions to reduce conflicts during daycare drop-off and pickup.
The engineering review specifically noted the potential for vehicles queuing for the car wash to create stacking that could extend onto Dequindre Road, creating gridlock on a principal arterial. That assessment weighed heavily in the council’s deliberations.
Developer argument: investment and site reuse
Representing the petitioner, attorney Phil Ruggeri emphasized the economic argument for redevelopment. Ruggeri told the council the project represented a $4.2 million investment that would renovate a building that has sat vacant for three years and is costing the owners an estimated $55,000 to $60,000 annually to maintain.
Ruggeri proposed conditions intended to mitigate conflicts, including restricting car wash access to the shared driveway during identified daycare drop-off and pick-up periods. He also said the developer had commissioned professional studies that showed minimal noise and traffic impacts.
Owner Brandon Hanna, identified as having 21 years in commercial real estate, said national marketing over three years produced limited interest in the site beyond car washes and gas stations. Hanna framed the car wash proposal as a productive reuse of a difficult-to-lease property.
Planning and council context
City Planner Jake Parcell presented the planning department’s recommendation for denial at the meeting and noted the Planning Commission’s unanimous vote against the rezoning. The council’s 5-1 denial effectively preserves the current zoning for the site—local convenience business—and keeps in place the constraints that precluded conversion to general business for this proposal.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Council vote | 5-1 deny rezoning |
| Proposed investment | $4.2 million |
| Approx. daycare enrollment | ~100 children |
| Vacancy at site | ~3 years |
Council members balanced the redevelopment benefits against public-safety and traffic issues raised by staff and residents. While the proposed access restrictions were intended to mitigate peak-hour conflicts, city engineering concerns about vehicle stacking on Dequindre Road and the direct driveway-sharing with a childcare facility ultimately persuaded a majority of the council to deny the request.
The decision leaves the property owner and prospective developer with limited options short of submitting a different land-use proposal that addresses the city’s access and circulation concerns or securing alternate access that separates vehicle queuing from the daycare’s driveway.
As Sterling Heights continues to address how to reuse vacant retail buildings, the council’s vote underscores the weight local officials place on immediate neighborhood safety and traffic flow when considering conditional rezonings.
