Zoning and planning
Not a car wash, by definition.
Fairfax County, Virginia looked at how RUB A DUB actually operates and classified it as an accessory use to the property, not as a car wash. That one determination is why we can be where car washes cannot.
How it was decided
The question, the review, the answer.
The question
Is a waterless wash service operating inside an existing parking garage a car wash under the zoning ordinance, with everything that classification requires?
The review
We walked Fairfax County Zoning and Planning through the operation: no structure, no fixed equipment, no water or drainage, no change to the property's use or traffic.
The determination
RUB A DUB was deemed not to be a car wash as defined, through the absence of a traditional structure and equipment, and to be an accessory use to the property it serves.
In practice
We bring that determination and the same operating facts to every new county and city we enter. Each jurisdiction decides for itself, and most reach the same place quickly.
What defines a car wash
Four things a car wash has. We have none of them.
A structure
A car wash is a building or a bay built for washing. We work in the parking space the car is already in.
Fixed equipment
Tunnels, arches, pressure systems, dryers. Our equipment is a bottle and a bag of towels.
Water supply and drainage
A car wash is sized around water in and grey water out. We use ounces of product on a towel and send nothing to a drain.
Traffic generation
A car wash draws cars to it. We serve cars that are already parked for other reasons, so the property's traffic does not change.
What it means
Why the classification is the business.
For landlords
No rezoning, no special exception, no site plan amendment. The service runs as an accessory to the garage the way a valet stand or a mobile detailer does.
Learn moreFor partners
A RUB A DUB can open in office, residential and mixed-use districts where a car wash could never be approved. That is the whole map, not the industrial edge of it.
Learn moreFor fleets and cities
Cleaning shared and autonomous vehicles inside the dense core becomes possible without building anything, because the garages and the classification already exist.
Learn more