Mister Car Wash is a step closer to opening a new location in Chesterfield Township.

The Zoning Board of Appeals on May 22 approved a special land use request from the business, which is looking to redevelop the Big Boy site on 23 Mile Road, east of Interstate 94. The approval reverses a decision made by the Planning Commission last month to deny the request. Before the project can move forward, final site plan approval must be granted by the Planning Commission.

The ZBA said the applicant meets all eight criteria outlined in the township’s zoning ordinance required for special land use approval.

“You’re not there to decide whether the commission got it right or wrong,” Township Attorney Robert Seibert said, at the ZBA meeting. “The decision is now in your lap to decide on your own whether or not you think they satisfied all the criteria.”

In early April, the Planning Commission denied the special land use in a 5-4 vote, finding the request did not meet a standard requiring the proposed use to be necessary for the public convenience at the proposed location.

The Big Boy site is about 600 feet from a Mr. C’s Car Wash location, with other washes nearby.

Mister Car Wash pointed to the special land use approved last year for a Chick-fil-A on 23 Mile Road, in proximity to many other restaurants. ZBA member Robert Finazzo also mentioned plans were recently approved for a new Maverik gas station at 23 Mile and Sass roads, near the B&B Liquor store.

“I didn’t see a lot of people complaining about that,” he said. “That’s going to maybe put B&B Liquor out, and the gas station’s going to do fine. … I do think competition is good for the community.”

The site plan proposed by Mister Car Wash included razing the existing Big Boy restaurant to make way for a 6,530-square-foot tunnel-type car wash building with an attendant hut, pay kiosks and exterior self-serve vacuum stations.

Mister Car Wash plans to invest $7 million into the project.