Z-Best Car Wash Says Complaints Are “Completely False,” Declines To Elaborate
It’s lies, damned lies!
That’s the response offered by the owner of Z-Best Car Wash at 2784 Coney Island Avenue, which has received thousands of dollars in violations from the city, in addition to earning the ire of a local politician calling for it to cease operations.
Allegations that the business is skirting zoning laws and making too much noise are “completely false,” said Z-Best’s owner, Rusell Shern, who added that the car wash is being “treated unfairly” by Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz.
Asked to elaborate on the violations and the business’ relationship with neighbors, Shern declined further comment.
The controversy erupted last week, when Cymbrowitz demanded the city issue a cease-and-desist order against the car wash’s operations, claiming that they have refused to reform despite more than a year of complains from neighbors.
Department of Buildings records reveal that Z-Best has been the target of noise, construction and light-pollution complaints from neighbors who reside around the business, which abuts Gerald Court. The machinery inside the wash produces a loud humming noise every time a car goes through. One neighbor told Sheepshead Bites that the noise can be heard from inside her house everyday from 8:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m.
The location has been a car wash for years, but in 2010, after two years of being closed, the property was taken over by new owners who updated equipment and overhauled the building. The Department of Buildings has received 25 official complaints since late 2010, when construction began, and the majority of complaints relate to noise disturbances.
A “Stop Work Order” was issued in 2011 and is still in dispute, preventing the building’s owners from doing any further construction – even if it’s to remedy noise problems.
Additionally, the Department of Building’s Environmental Control Board has slapped the owners with a $4,000 fine for operating the car wash in a residential area, contrary to permitted zoning use.
Cymbrowitz also noted in last week’s press release that the Department of Environmental Protection “issued numerous violations to the car wash for excessive noise” over the past year.