Even before the first car was soaped, city officials warned a Lawrence homeless shelter it shouldn’t hold a fundraising car wash.

But the warning Saturday went unheeded and officials eventually stepped in that afternoon to stop the car wash, later citing Lawrence Community Shelter for violating city ordinances meant to regulate runoff to the Kansas River.

“I know there are people who don’t think this is a big deal, but it’s important to realize that when you have a concrete parking lot that runs to a concrete street that runs to a concrete stormwater system – you’re essentially dumping whatever it is you’re doing in the river,” Chad Voigt, stormwater engineer for the city, said.

Shelter director Loring Henderson was contrite about the car wash Monday.

“We were wrong. In no way do I want the city to get a black eye over this,” Henderson said. “This is our fault. The shelter apologizes.”

City officials stopped the fundraiser because water from the car wash flowed into the city’s stormwater drainage system, which flows directly to the Kansas River.

The city halted a homeless shelter's benefit car wash because the run-off would have drained into storm sewers like the one above.

“It’s an environmental code violation,” Voigt said.

Voigt said the shelter was issued a “notice of violation” Monday. The notice, he said, does not include a fine.

“We’ve written hundreds of these in the four years since the (stormwater drainage) ordinance was adopted and no one has ever been fined,” Voigt said. “They are meant to be educational in nature.”

Voigt said his office called the shelter and urged organizers to cancel the event after seeing a story on the planned car wash in Saturday’s Journal-World.

Henderson confirmed someone from Voigt’s office had called. He declined further comment.

“I wasn’t here when the city person showed up,” he said.

The purpose of the car wash was to raise money to equip softball teams for the homeless.

Henderson said the car wash raised $290 for the purchase of enough softball equipment -bats, balls and gloves – to equip two teams.

“The goal was to raise $150,” he said. “And we had people donate some bats and gloves, so it was very successful.”

The shelter’s first softball game is tentatively scheduled for Monday in South Park.

Voigt said initial reports indicating the car wash was stopped because the shelter failed to get a permit were incorrect because the city doesn’t issue car-wash permits.

The city’s stormwater ordinance, he said, prohibits large-scale car washes on properties that drain into the city’s stormwater sewer system.

An outgrowth of EPA regulations, the city’s stormwater ordinance also seeks to keep “trash, yard waste, lawn chemicals, pet waste, wastewater, oil, petroleum products, cleaning products, paint products, hazardous waste and sediment” out of the stormwater system.

The ordinance does not prohibit tenants or homeowners from washing their cars in their driveways.

Charitable groups wanting to sponsor large-scale car washes are encouraged to work with the city’s automobile dealerships and commercial car washes, both of which are connected to the sanitary sewer system, which does not drain directly to the river.

• 6News video: City shuts down homeless car wash
• Homeless car wash shut down by city (07-31-05)
• Homeless to wash cars for softball team funds (07-30-05)

Rick Nunez, general manager at Auto Exchange, 1225 E. 23rd St., offered to let the shelter use his facilities on one or more Saturdays.

“We like to help the community as much as we can,” Nunez said.

In recent months, the stormwater ordinance has proven controversial.

At their June 7 meeting, Lawrence city commissioners called for a review after learning that Chuck Magerl, proprietor at the Free State Brewing Co., 636 Mass., had been told he wasn’t to use hose water to clean the sidewalk in front of the restaurant.

“There seems to be a Chicken Little mentality going on that says any small bit of danger is a crisis,” Magerl said Monday.

Commissioner Mike Amyx shared Magerl’s concern.

“I understand what the ordinance is trying to do, but for the life of me, I can’t understand what difference it makes if someone washes their car or their sidewalk with clean water or if it rains,” said commissioner Mike Amyx. “It all goes to the same place.”