Dirty Dog’s Car Wash won its appeal on Tuesday when the Birmingham City Council agreed to allow it to finish construction along U.S. 280 as an exception to the city’s moratorium on new car washes.

It’s the second car wash approved in Birmingham City limits since the moratorium passed in March and was extended for 90 more days in August. Whitecap Auto Spa on Crestwood Boulevard was approved Aug. 27 and has since opened.

New Day Car Wash, which wanted to build at 2310 University Boulevard, was rejected after it fell one vote short in winning its appeal Sept. 10. It was planned across the street from the planned new Southtown Court and Edgehill redevelopment.

Dirty Dog’s Car Wash, 100 Resource Center Parkway, was 85 percent complete by the time the moratorium passed, said Ashley Hugunine, an attorney who represents developers for Baker Donelson and spoke on behalf of the car wash at the council meeting.

“This case is different in that construction was started prior to the moratorium,” said Council President Darrell O’Quinn. “It’s also located in a portion of the city that is suitably designed for this type of operation.”

Dirty Dog’s Car Wash is being built on a former Logan’s Roadhouse restaurant location that closed in February 2020 and had been vacant since, Hugunine said. It was demolished in December 2023, leaving an empty lot near the Whataburger facing U.S. 280 west of Inverness Parkway. Construction on the car wash began in January.

Owners have invested $5.1 million to build the car wash, Hugunine said.

“The intent was not to disrupt projects that were this far along,” said City Council member Carol Clarke. “I am concerned about the proliferation of them and I believe our intent was to slow or maybe halt the proliferation until we can get some more rules in place.”

“This seems to have been well underway when we considered and then passed and re-passed a moratorium,” said Council member Hunter Williams, whose district includes the Overton neighborhood encompassing city-owned land along the U.S. 280 corridor. “Thank you for your investment into the city of Birmingham.”

Dirty Dog’s Car Wash is expected to open in November, Hugunine said.

The car wash will employ 30 to 45 people, she said. “We’re excited about this project and think it will be a great addition to the city,” Hugunine said.

Martin Emmett, president of Dirty Dog’s Car Wash since its founding in 2018, said the new car wash will have a program offering free car washes to first responders. He said other locations had given free car washes to more than 14,000 first responders in Alabama, Georgia and Florida.