MANASSAS — City residents may continue overheating about a proposed auto repair shop until at least the new year.
The city is reviewing plans for a proposed 4,005 square foot Meineke auto repair shop to be located in Wellington Station shopping center at 10024 Dumfries Road in Manassas.
At the city’s request, the company has agreed to operate between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., to leave bay doors closed when cars are being repaired, and to receive no deliveries between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. to keep the noise down.
Giant Food anchors the shopping center and the Meineke would be located in an end cap unit closest to The Gatherings at Wellington, a 135-unit condo community for owners aged 55 and older.
Those owners are opposed to the new auto repair shop, saying it would be too noisy, that it would produce fumes, and would be unsightly. Residents said they enjoy sitting on their patios on warm-weather days and do not want the repair shop within view of their homes.
“These folks invested in their last condo, if you will, with outdoor patios… the concern is that you’re going to bring cars to the outside of those building… those noises become part of your standard,” said Manassas resident Denise Harrover.
An attorney for the company, Jonelle Cameron, told council members that Meineke would plant 12-foot tall evergreens that would eventually grow between 16 and 20 feet tall and would effectively block the view of the shop from those looking on from their condos. The company also promises to pay for pedestrian improvements on a walking path leading from the development into the shopping center, to include a new crosswalk in the parking lot.
The shop would have six vehicle repair bays in all. The project received approval from the city’s Planning Commission in a 4-2 vote.
The City Council voted to hold open the public hearing for the project until a new council is seated in January. Michelle Davis-Younger and Theresa Coates-Ellis will replace the outgoing Sheryl Bass and Marc Aveni.
