Oct. 21, 2025 update: Club Car Wash withdraws proposal to build near North Main and Auburn streets in Rockford | Rock River Current
Nov. 7, 2025 op-ed: Save Our North End derailed a car wash. What happens now? | Rockford Register Star
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Who are we?
If you see this sign and start wondering who’s behind it, here’s our story:
Save Our North End (SONE) is a coalition of business owners, neighborhood associations, and residents of the historic area in Rockford, Illinois that surrounds the intersection of Main and Auburn streets just north of downtown.
SONE was formed mid-September 2025 in response to an application to rezone the grassy lot on the northwest side of the roundabout for a chain car wash.
In words understandable at City Hall, we are — with respect to Zoning Application #035-25 — a group of “legal objectors, objectors, and interested parties.”
Together, we’re opposing:
- an express car wash proposed for this location and
- a related proposal to rezone the site, even if the requested car wash is defeated, to a designation that could bring on other intrusive situations, none of which we would have a say in.
We understand there’s a lot to process and that there’s been little in the news about this. As of the launch of this website on September 25, 2025, the extent of news coverage was a report by WIFR on September 9 and a report by WTVO on September 12.
Following is what we know based on information publicly available on the City of Rockford website. To make things easier to digest, we’re using an FAQ format, which also includes answers to questions about our coalition’s effort and how you can help.
Please keep reading.
Is this a done deal? Where are we in the process?
No, this is not a done deal. We are at the beginning of the process to make a zoning map change based on what the engineering firm representing the car wash company is asking.
There will be a public hearing October 21 in front of the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA).
Originally, this matter was to be discussed at the September ZBA meeting. But discussion at that meeting was laid over to the October meeting.
That continuance was at the request of the company applying for the zoning changes: a Wisconsin-based civil engineering firm representing the Missouri-based car wash chain, Club Car Wash. (A request to delay the discussion was also filed by a representative of homeowners and business owners whose property touches the site.)
The ZBA hearing October 21 is critical because it’s the first step in a three-step progression — and the only step in the process where the public has input.
From there, discussion will go to the city council’s Code and Regulation Committee and then to the full council for a vote. You can attend both of those meetings (the second and third steps in the process) but you won’t be able to speak at either. While it’s true that you could still write to or call your alderman leading up to those meetings, your input then will not be part of the record unless an alderman chooses to read it at one of the meetings.
So, for the biggest and surest impact, it’s important to be prepared with what you will say and how you will get that point across before October 21. For details on who to write, email, call or text, see below under “I’m in. What do you need me to do?”
What exactly is being proposed?
The civil engineering firm representing the Club Car Wash chain is asking to put an automated car wash operation on the entire grassy lot on the northwest side of the roundabout at North Main and Auburn streets (also known as Veterans Memorial Circle).
A 5,393-square-foot building would anchor a paved lot with driveways, self-serve vacuum stations and a dumpster enclosure. Cars would enter and exit from Latham and Vernon streets. Three to four employees would staff the business.
Hours would be 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Saturday during the summer and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. during Daylight Saving Time. Hours on Sunday would be 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., or 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
With respect to what’s required for parking setback and perimeter landscaping, they are asking for a reduction. With respect to what’s required for foundation landscaping, they are asking for elimination on three of the four faces of the building.
The engineering firm is also asking to change the zoning for entire lot to a more dense commercial designation (C-2) and to remove a required buffer (C-1) between residential and commercial zones.
To do your own review of what’s proposed, please see this extract from the agenda of the September 16, 2025 ZBA meeting. (By “extract” we do not mean we’re leaving anything out about this matter; we’re simply omitting details for the four other applications on the September agenda.)
What does the city’s zoning department have to say?
In reviewing the engineering firm’s application, the city’s zoning staff, on September 11 posted their Findings of Fact, a procedural statement that assesses how the proposals align with zoning ordinances and planning standards.
You can find details of the findings in the link above, which for your convenience we’re repeating here.
Bottom line: City staff is recommending denial of the special use permit for a car wash and related variances, but supporting the rezoning of the entire lot to a C-2 designation.
Please note this is a recommendation from the city zoning department to the zoning board, which will take this into consideration along with what’s presented at the public hearing before making their own recommendation.
Wait! Isn’t a Dollar General the other option?
No, it is not. Talk of a Dollar General is simply talk on social media. Per city records, there is no such proposal currently on the table.
There had been — nearly 20 years ago (2006) — a zoning proposal for a dollar store on the North Main corridor, but not a Dollar General and not at North Main and Auburn.
- That proposal in 2006 was for another dollar store: Family Dollar.
- And it was for another North End location: North Main and Fulton, specifically: 2411 N. Main (across from The Olympic Tavern).
- Although, per the Rockford Register Star archive, that proposal was recommended by the city’s zoning department and unanimously approved by the zoning board, it was defeated in a council vote after significant opposition from neighbors and nearby businesses.
So, to clarify: The ONLY points on the table right now are whether a car wash should go on the grassy lot by the roundabout, and whether that entire lot should be rezoned for a higher level of development (a level where the community would have no say in what comes next).
Our coalition believes that both the proposal for a car wash and the proposal for rezoning can be defeated just as the 2006 proposal for a dollar store (a mile up the road) was shut down.
So whose ward is this actually in?
The empty lot in question is in the North End Square neighborhood, which is in Ward 9.
Once represented by Bill Rose, Ward 9 is now represented by Dawn Granath.
Who owns this lot?
Signs on the lot say First Midwest Group.
Per county records, the properties that make up this vacant lot are all owned by Dyn Auburn LLC, an entity that has the same corporate address as First Midwest Group, a Rockford-based company that is one of the region’s largest developers.
Per state records, Sunil Holdings is the LLC’s previous name.
What are your coalition’s objections?
Many. A large, express car wash here raises obvious concerns:
- Safety of the neighboring homeowners and children playing nearby.
- Increased traffic near an already accident-prone intersection.
- Noise near homes, small businesses, and a cemetery.
- Proximity to a veterans’ memorial.
- Visually inconsistent with the historic character of surrounding neighborhoods.
- Detrimental to the walkability of a reviving business corridor.
- Diminishing property values in reviving neighborhoods.
Other negative impacts of the proposed car wash may not immediately come to mind:
- A car wash, like other service businesses, does not produce sales tax.
- Plants at the Veterans Memorial Circle monument wall on southeastern curb of the lot would be lost. Behind the wall, they would die during construction. In front of the wall, they would die from the runoff once the car wash is in operation.
- Neither the civil engineering firm representing the car wash company in the zoning application, nor the firm that owns the property, have engaged proactively with adjacent property owners and community stakeholders to address concerns related to the proposed development. Neighborly respect lacking at the beginning of a relationship does not bode well for the future of a relationship.
- If this business fails, the building left behind could not be repurposed.
Then, there is the more complicated, lesser-talked-about part of the zoning application: the request to rezone the entire lot to a C-2.
This designation would allow higher-density commercial use even if the car wash proposal is shot down.
City staff is recommending the C-2 rezoning. We are opposed to the rezoning. We break down our opposition in this post: There is more at stake here than a car wash.
Got a lot going on. Why should I care?
With or without the car wash being allowed to come to this site, there’s the related proposal to rezone the entire lot to a higher-level of commercial use (a C-2 designation).
If this part of the rezoning proposal were to pass, the required buffer (C-1) between homes and higher-density development (C-2) would go away.
Once C-2 zoning is in place, the public doesn’t have a say on future development.
So, we need to ask ourselves:
- Are we OK with not bothering to speak up now and risking that our lack of opposition — when we actually have the right to oppose — could mean taking away our voices down the road when another business (or a strip center of businesses) posing the same high-traffic, noise, or safety concerns wants to come to this site?
I’m in. What do you need me to do?
Please let your voice be heard in any — or all! — of the following ways:
- Sign our petition by October 20. That is the day before the ZBA hearing where this matter will be discussed. You can find copies of the petition at the following businesses:
The Norwegian, 1402 N. Main St.
Rooted, 1408 N. Main St.
Winnie Nutter, 1410 N. Main St.
The GOAT Pub and Grill, 1428 N. Main St.
Rockford Billiard Cafe, 1436 N. Main St.
Plume, 1132 Auburn St.
The Olympic Tavern, 2327 N. Main St.
Mrs. Fisher’s Potato Chips, 1231 Fulton Ave.
Latham Tap, 2402 Latham St.
Pinnon Meats, 2324 N. Court St.
Whiskey’s Roadhouse, 3207 N. Main St.
QuarterArcade, 3321 N. Main St.
J.R. Kortman Center for Design, 107 N. Main St.
Beef-A-Roo, 2538 Auburn St.
Wayne’s Feed Store, 3435 Auburn St.
Rockford Art Deli, 402 E. State St.
Moon Lab Salon, 1404 N. Main St., Suite #5
Pour House Restaurant and Bar, 2515 Kilburn Ave.
- Go on record with the zoning department by the end of day October 20. (As noted above, this is the day before the ZBA hearing.) You can bring a letter to the zoning office at City Hall or email Traci.Madison@rockfordil.gov. In the subject line, please include Zoning Application #035-25. When sending via email, we recommend you CC all 14 members of city council (not just the five aldermen whose wards include the affected neighborhoods). Here are the addresses of all council members:
Jonathan.Logemann@rockfordil.gov
Gabrielle.Torina@rockfordil.gov
Janessa.Wilkins@rockfordil.gov
- If you’d rather call or text your alderman, here are their city cell numbers:
Ward 1, Timothy Durkee: 815-519-6406
Ward 2, Jonathan Logemann: 815-312-8747
Ward 3, Chad Tuneberg: 815-977-5016
Ward 4, Kevin Frost: 815-243-1300
Ward 5, Gabrielle Torina: 815-893-9801
Ward 6, Aprel Prunty: 815-601-6904
Ward 7, Janessa Wilkins: 815-977-3769
Ward 8, Karen Hoffman: 815-399-5026
Ward 9, Dawn Granath: 779-895-4917
Ward 10, Franklin Beach: 815-978-8736
Ward 11, Jaime Salgado: 779-351-9807
Ward 12, Gina Meeks: 815-317-6572
Ward 13, Tamir Bell: 779-895-4349
Ward 14, Mark Bonne: 815-289-4752
- If you’d like to address the zoning board of appeals in person, please plan on being in council chambers (2nd floor of City Hall) on Tuesday, October 21, at 5:30 p.m. City Hall is 425 E. State St. Please keep your speech focused on what is currently proposed; veering off into past proposals for the lot, or what you wish to see there instead, will not be productive.
Where can I get a sign?
Email info@saveournorthend.org and a member of our coalition will follow up promptly.
How else can I help?
- Please share this website with everyone you know who values our special part of Rockford. Tell people what’s at stake and ask them to pass the word. If you share on social media, it would be greatly appreciated if you use the hashtag #saveournorthend.
- If you are able to help with the petition drive, please do! Email us at info@saveournorthend.org and we’ll get you set up!
- If you want to be at the ZBA hearing but aren’t comfortable speaking, please show up anyway. Your presence will matter to the zoning board. And those who will be addressing the zoning board will appreciate the moral support. See you at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, October 21, in council chambers, 2nd floor of City Hall!
Are you on Facebook?
We are! Please follow and share the Facebook page for Save Our North End.
Contact: info@saveournorthend.org
