Plans for a car wash in North Huntingdon hit a snag this week when township zoning board members questioned the idea of constructing the building 25 feet from busy Route 30, one-half the setback required in the municipality’s ordinance.

When it was clear that all four members present at the North Huntingdon Zoning Hearing Board hearing criticized the site plan, Brenden McCardle, an engineer representing Boing US Holdco Inc. of Charlotte, N.C., asked the board to adjourn Tuesday’s hearing until its Oct. 3 meeting.

McCardle was informed he could have the board vote on the company’s request for a variance to permit the building at 12279 Route 30 to be constructed closer to the highway, but if it failed, the zoning board likely would not review those plans again until November.

McCardle was told the adjournment would give Boing US, which operates Take 5 Car Wash, the opportunity to decide whether it wants to make adjustments to its site plan.

McCardle, a project manager with Atwell Co. of Philadelphia, said he did not know whether Boing US, which owns 350 automated car washes across the nation, wants to change the site plan. No representative from Boing US was at Tuesday’s meeting.

North Huntingdon zoning officer Thomas McGuire told the board the township believes the building can be built farther from Route 30, so there is the least amount of variance from the 50-foot setback requirement.

Because the existing building on the site is about 44 feet from the road, the board asked whether the 3,200-square-foot car wash could be constructed on the footprint of that former medical center.

“Your site plan may be a self-­imposed hardship,” board president Russell Heyz told McCardle.

“We have pretty much set in stone that 50-foot setback along Route 30,” Heyz added.

To set the building farther back from the highway, however, would require a retaining wall higher than the 20-foot-high wall proposed in the plan because of a “severe drop-off” at the rear of the roughly 1-acre site, McCardle said.

He told the board they had considered other options for locating the building on the site and a 25-foot setback allows the vehicles to maneuver safely on the site, which would hold 15 vacuum stands. The plans allow for space for 15 vehicles to wait in line for a 110-second car wash, he said.

The zoning members also asked McCardle to change the location of the entrance and exit along Route 30 to make it safer for motorists. Having the entrance adjacent to the exit lane could reduce visibility for motorists entering Route 30.

Attorney George Butler, the board’s solicitor, told McCardle the company has to send to the township a signed sales agreement showing it has an interest in the property for the board to consider a request for a variance, as required by state law. The property is owned by Matina Realty LLC of Peters, Washington County.

Were the zoning board to grant the variances, Butler told McCardle, the plans must be reviewed by the township planning commission and approved by the township commissioners.

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