Owner Going Ahead With New Carwash

After , St. Louis Park business owner Alberto Bertomeu sang a different tune on Monday and said he plans on building his new carwash after all.

Bertomeu, operates the Minikahda Mobil Service Station at 3901 Excelsior Blvd., was originally upset at council's decision to stick him with a 9 p.m. closing time, as opposed to 10 p.m. as he had requested. Despite getting the city's OK to build a new carwash, the owner left the meeting hastily and said he wasn't sure if he'd go ahead with the project.

On Monday, Bertomeu said he wanted to make peace with council.

"I think what happened last time is I missed something, which is 'thank you,'" he said to the council members. "I'm very pleased this project was approved."

The approval required a zoning change and an adjustment to Bertomeu’s conditional use permit with the city.

"I don't take that lightly," Bertomeu said. "That's a very big commitment the city made to me."

Bertomeu said he hopes to start construction of the new carwash in May and open it about four months later. If all goes well, he said he might petition to get the 10 p.m. closing time he really wants, but for now he just wants to build.

"Once they see how it operates, I should be able to change their mind," Bertomeu said. "Fighting the council (now) doesn't make any sense."