The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday decided that a group building a car wash on Crestwood Boulevard has gotten far enough along in the project that a recent moratorium on such businesses won’t apply to them.

“We’re confident it will be a great addition to the city of Birmingham,” said Ashley Hugunine, an attorney with Baker Donelson, representing Whitecap Car Wash, the South Carolina-based company aiming to set up the business at 7724 Crestwood Boulevard.

The group had asked for the appeal hearing after its application and building permit were recently denied.

The council on Tuesday voted unanimously to approve the application and permit.

At the hearing, Hugunine said that when the council passed the moratorium on automated car wash business on March 5, the Whitecap Car Wash project — which will employ 18 people — was about 70% complete, with nearly $5 million invested.

Hugunine added that Whitecap received a zoning compliance letter in November 2022 that stated the business was permitted. The business also received a building permit in August 2023 and then started construction, she said.

The council passed the moratorium March 5. The measure has been challenged by a group planning a car wash in the Red Mountain neighborhood. In April, they asked that their business be excluded from the moratorium, saying their application had been submitted March 4.

The business owners had planned the business for a plot of land along Richard Arrington Jr. Boulevard South between 20th Avenue South and 21st Avenue South near Vulcan Park.

An attorney representing the Red Mountain group said in April that they felt the business was being singled out by Councilor Valerie Abbott, who introduced the moratorium, and the Red Mountain Neighborhood Association, which opposed the project because of traffic concerns.

The council on April 2 voted unanimously to deny the appeal.

The council held a public hearing July 30 during which the majority of residents present spoke against having more automated car washes. The council on Aug. 6 voted to extend the moratorium until Dec. 8.