The Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) has approved a gas station/convenience store’s proposal to install an automated car wash at its property to increase the range of services that it offers customers.

Following a public hearing held earlier this month, the P&Z approved modifying a special permit held by Sundaram LLC for 64 Church Hill Road, thus allowing the firm to install the car wash at Newtown Mobil. The one-acre site is on the south side of Church Hill Road, near Exit 10 of Interstate 84.

The car wash proposal also requires approval from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

Locally, the Water & Sewer Authority in August gave the applicant a preliminary approval for the car wash. The car wash would discharge wastewater into the municipal sanitary sewer system.

Earlier this month, the Police Commission, serving as the traffic authority, also endorsed the car wash proposal.

According to testimony presented on behalf of the applicant at the P&Z hearing, approximately 40 gallons of water would be used per car wash and no water would be recycled. A car wash would last for about four minutes.

The applicant explained to P&Z members how traffic would flow on the site in view of the presence of new facilities there.

The applicant plans to instal a compact “touch-free” car wash mechanism that would move while the vehicle that is being washed remains stationary.

Last March, the P&Z revised the zoning regulations to allow gas station/convenience stores to install car-washing equipment, provided that they meet applicable local and state regulations.

The Newtown Mobil car wash would be the second such automated facility in town. Newtown Car Wash operates at 1 Simm Lane, off South Main Street. In approving the car wash, P&Z members decided that the application meets the requirements for a special permit and is consistent with the zoning regulations for B-2 (Business) zones.

Also, P&Z members found the application to be consistent with the 2014 Town Plan of Conservation and Development.

The Mobil station is located in an area where the state Department of Transportation (DOT) plans to make some significant traffic flow changes for improved traffic safety. The planned project involves the realignment of the widely offset intersection of Church Hill Road, Edmond Road, and Commerce Road. The project will create a conventional four-way signalized intersection of Church Hill Road, Commerce Road, and Edmond Road. In the $4 million project, the southern end of Edmond Road would be shifted westward so that Edmond Road becomes part of a four-way intersection with the other roads. The southern end of Edmond Road now lies about 250 feet east of the northern end of Commerce Road. Intersection realignment work is slated to start in April 2016.