photo by: Nick Krug

Lawrence City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St., is pictured on May 3, 2016.

Plans to build a high-tech car wash on the site of a former Lawrence Applebee’s restaurant are moving forward.

The Lawrence City Commission is set to approve changes that would allow an area development group to locate the automatic tunnel car wash at 3900 W. Sixth St., which is the site of the now vacant Applebee’s in front of Hy-Vee.

As part of its consent agenda Tuesday, the commission will consider approving a rezoning request and special use permit that would allow for a car wash on the site. Though the site is located in a commercial district, a stand-alone car wash is not allowed under the current zoning designation and a permit is required to ensure compatibility with adjacent uses, according to city staff memos to the commission.

The plans, submitted by Wild Pines Ventures, call for the Applebee’s building to be demolished to make way for a 5,169-square-foot automatic car wash. The operator will be Tommy’s Car Wash, which has a location in Overland Park.

The Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission considered the rezoning and permit requests at its meeting Feb. 21 and voted unanimously to recommend both for approval.

The City Commission will also consider other changes related to redevelopments as part of its meeting Tuesday. In other business, the commission will:

• Consider a request to rezone approximately 1.685 acres in the 1300 block of Research Park Drive from Industrial Business Park District to Limited Industrial District. The rezoning would allow for the development of a climate-controlled self-storage facility.

• Consider a preliminary development plan for a multifamily residential development, Beckhaus Townhomes, near the intersection of Sixth Street and Queens Road. The plans call for six two-unit townhomes, which developers say will be a retiree-oriented project.

• Consider a request to rezone approximately 1.8 acres located at 1105 E. 23rd St. from single-dwelling residential district to commercial strip district. The rezoning would allow for the development of the 8N Business Center, which calls for three multitenant buildings to be built on a vacant portion of the site.