LYNN HAVEN, Fla. (WMBB) — Lynn Haven city commissioners took up a proposal Tuesday for a new quick oil change business. The City’s planning board already rejected the plans after residents voiced opposition.

Residents gave commissioners a number of reasons why they should reject plans for a new Grease Pro Tire and Auto Repair Shop at the corner of Highway 390 and Harvard Boulevard. One of the biggest reasons is stormwater run-off in areas that already have flooding issues. 

“You can only store so much water on the property,” said Lynn Haven resident Zach Detwiler. “Lynn Haven has done their best efforts to increase how much stormwater flows off of a building and they store in those ponds. But if it goes over that, it’s got to go somewhere. That somewhere is our drainage, which is already flooding us.”

Many residents talked about car and home damages due to flooding. They’re also concerned about the additional traffic the business will bring to an already congested intersection. 

“It’s scary to them, and I think it invades what they consider to be their home,” said Detwiler. “I actually had a car auto accident about ten feet from where the proposed entrance to this is. We’ve had a number of people on these streets, had accidents at the intersection right next to where this is going in.”

The project engineer is Robert Carroll, who is also a Bay County commissioner. Carroll told city officials none of these concerns will be a problem. Despite residents’ concerns, city commissioners approved the Grease Pro Development Order Application in a 4-to-1 vote, but the Grease Pro owners will have to omit 3,000 sq. ft. of office space attached to the shop. 

“That was something that we as a commission that we thought would be sort of a concession between the two parties,” said Lynn Haven Mayor Jesse Nelson. “Hopefully, it would allow the residents to see that the business owner does have the best intentions of being a good neighbor and that also that their voices are being heard.”

Opponents aren’t giving up. 

“This is not the end of it,” said Detwiler. “This is going to be a very long process.  We as residents are, I think, saddened. I know the city can only do so much, but with a county commissioner here saying that it’s not going to be a problem, even though we know it is a problem, saying that there aren’t going to be concerns when there very well could be concerns.”

The builder has not announced when construction will begin on the new business.