New Kensington to consider plans for ModWash car wash in Riverview Plaza

New Kensington planners will consider a proposal for another new car wash off Tarentum Bridge Road.

The city’s planning commission will review final site development and subdivision plans for a ModWash car wash in Riverview Plaza when it meets at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 14, city Engineer Tony Males said.

The tunnel car wash would be in a corner of the plaza, on part of the former Kmart store’s footprint and across a parking area from a new Aldi grocery store. Kmart closed in January 2019 after nearly 55 years, and the building was demolished in 2021.

Aldi recently announced it will open its store March 23.

News that a car wash and grocery store would be built in the plaza as part of a $1.8 million redevelopment plan became public in September 2021.

A representative of ModWash, based in Chattanooga, Tenn., did not respond to requests for comment.

According to the company’s website, it has 21 locations in Pennsylvania, with 13 open and eight under construction, not including New Kensington. It also has locations open or under construction in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

Males said the car wash would be similar to the Clean Express Auto Wash that opened in December on the other side of Tarentum Bridge Road, behind Sunoco and in front of Busy Beaver.

In its review, Males said the planning commission also will consider whether the proposal is compatible with the city’s design guidelines, which the city adopted last year.

The commission will make a recommendation on the subdivision and design guidelines to city council, which will have the final say, Males said.