CAZENOVIA — The Cazenovia community will soon have its own car wash, which will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The new business, Caz Car Wash, is expected to open at 2567 Rt. 20 East the first week of November.
The facility will have four bays that will offer two self-service manual washes, one automatic “soft-touch” wash, and one automatic “touch-free laser” wash.
The soft-touch wash has neoprene soft brushes that gently apply friction to remove contaminants from the surface of the vehicle. With the touch-free laser wash, vehicles are not physically touched by anything other than high-pressure water. Both automatic washes will offer four packages — basic, deluxe, works, and ultimate.
Washes can be purchased with cash, credit card, or Apple/Google Pay. Coins will not be accepted.
The car wash will also have two vacuum islands offering vacuums, shampoo, and fragrance for cleaning vehicle interiors.
Soon after opening, the business plans to launch its website and a Caz Car Wash mobile app that will allow shoppers to purchase single washes, discounted wash books, and gift cards.
The owners of the new business are brothers-in-law and life-long Cazenovia residents Don Ballway and Clay Coleman.
Karie Ballway, who is Ballway’s wife and Coleman’s sister, and Linda Coleman, who is Coleman’s wife, are assisting with the promotion of the car wash and will be active in its day-to-day operations.
Karie said that although Ballway and Coleman do not have experience running car washes, they do have experience running businesses. Ballway owns AquaLogics Systems, Inc. of Syracuse, and Coleman owns Coleman Lawn Service of Cazenovia.
“Knowing that Cazenovia has not had a car wash in almost two decades, they felt this would be a service well-received by the community,” said Karie.
She added that many locals have been excited to hear that Cazenovia will soon have its own car wash, especially since they currently must drive to another community between 9 and 11 miles away to wash their cars.
“With the rising price of vehicles, a car wash is something people value to keep their vehicles clean, especially during the winter months,” Karie said. “There are also several local lakes with many boat owners and recreational vehicles that need washing at the beginning and end of each season.”
The owners received approval from the Town of Cazenovia to move forward with their project in Feb. 2020.
According to Karie, the initial site prep/foundation work began in the fall of 2021, and the building construction took place this year.
The car wash is possible due to the Town of Cazenovia/Town of Nelson Route 20 Water District Improvements project, which extended public water from the Village of Cazenovia Public Water System to businesses and residential properties along Rt. 20. The water line extension project, which was completed in mid-2021, was the result of collaboration between the Town and Village of Cazenovia and the Town of Nelson.
“Without the Water District Improvements project, we would not have been able to operate the car wash,” said Karie. “We selected the site knowing the water district was forthcoming. The site also had all other utilities required to operate a Car Wash, [such as] electric, gas, and sewer.”
