By: Sarah Wright | Troy Times | Published April 21, 2026
TROY — After much deliberation, plans for an El Car Wash location at the northwest corner of Long Lake and Dequindre roads received preliminary site plan review and special use approval from the Troy Planning Commission at its April 14 meeting.
Alrig USA previously sought the approvals but was blocked by the Planning Commission in November 2024.
“(But) there was no follow-up vote to actually deny the application,” noted Ben Carlisle, from consulting firm Carlisle/Wortman Associates. “That proceeded to litigation and as a part of the litigation, the judge sent it back to the Planning Commission because he found the record of denial was incomplete.”
The decision was appealed to the Oakland County Circuit Court, and in July 2025 the court vacated the denial. The Planning Commission was also ordered to include specific reasons why the special use requirements were not satisfied in their view.
The project would include a building spanning 5,000 square feet, with an auto wash on the first floor and a small office space on the second floor, which would be donated rent-free to the charity organization Rainbow Connection, a children’s charity that grants wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses. The organization also supports families through programs including event ticket giveaways, scholarships, emergency assistance and holiday support.
Ingrid Todt, the group’s executive director, said in a statement that this space would mean more than just room to work for the organization, since it would help expand their team and streamline operations while saving money for granting wishes and supporting families.
Other features for the 1.5-acre site include seven covered spaces for second-floor use, a public seating area in the southeast corner and more. The applicant also removed a proposed kitchen from the plans and replaced it with a vestibule to provide a defined entrance and exit.
“(It was) 2024 the last time I stood in front of you guys,” said Gabe Schuchman, real estate partner with El Car Wash. “During that time, we tried to figure out how to make this plan work, how to really fit within the neighborhood node district. We spent a lot of time trying to put together a plan that hopefully you guys will find better.”
Initially, Planning Commissioner Tyler Fox made a motion to deny the item due to fears it would undermine efforts to promote pedestrian-friendly spaces, as called for in the master plan. He also worried about the impact it would have on traffic.
“The mission of the Rainbow Connection, the people that they help — absolutely a wonderful mission (and) a fantastic organization that, if they find a place in Troy, I would love to have them be a part of our community,” Fox said. “But ultimately, we are looking at a car wash that has an office attached. This site, without any type of special use approval, could be a restaurant with office attached, it could be residential with office attached, it could be lower intensity with office attached.”
Planning Commissioner John Tagle was more enthusiastic about the project.
“As much as we try to fight it, this is Detroit,” Tagle said. “Detroit was built on automobiles. It’ll be a long time before the automobile goes away. We don’t have any mass transit; we don’t have any downtown to walk. Everybody goes everywhere in a car. So, to say that this isn’t an appropriate development to serve the community … is not accurate.”
The denial failed, 3-6, with Fox, Marianna Perakis and Carlton Faison voting in favor of the denial, and Tagle, Thomas Krent, Dave Lambert, Jayalakshmi Malalahalli, Toby Buechner and Michael Hudson voting against the denial.
Afterward, Krent made a motion to approve the agenda item with amendments that there be a deviation from the 10-foot build-to-line to set the building 21.2-feet from East Long Lake Road. The motion also called parking space adjustments and the addition of a canopy to give Rainbow Connection more prominence, among other tweaks.
The approval passed 6-3 with Lambert, Malalahalli, Tagle, Buechner, Hudson and Krent voting in favor of the approval, and Perakis, Faison, and Fox voting against it.