THOUSAND OAKS : Traveling Carwash Must Obtain Permit

Prompted by complaints about illegal dumping of waste water, the Thousand Oaks City Council on Tuesday ordered a traveling carwash operator to obtain a permit from a regional water quality agency.

With one member absent, the council voted 4 to 0 to give Lance Winslow, owner of The Car Wash Guys, 60 days to get a permit from the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board.

The decision was prompted by complaints from operators of stationary carwashes who said traveling carwashes contaminate the city’s sewer system with lead and other pollutants from dirty cars.

Unlike stationary carwashes, which are regulated by the regional water quality control board, The Car Wash Guys has used and disposed of water without informing the regulatory agency what was in it.

Winslow said he thought that he did not need a permit because most of the water he uses lacks soap and is not dumped into sewers.

The Car Wash Guys has three traveling trucks that wash about 500 cars a week in Thousand Oaks. The traveling service also cleans 1,000 private and company cars each day from San Diego to Santa Barbara counties.

Winslow also runs another firm, Aero Auto Wash, which washes company cars and airplanes.

The companies are expected to generate about $713,000 in revenues this year, he said.

Council members also banned large-scale carwashes in public parking lots until the city determines whether the operations are legal.

Officials were concerned that carwashes conducted in gas stations and parking lots of large malls violate city zoning codes.