Smithfield’s Planning Commission has approved plans for a ModWash looking to come to a new commercial development planned for 14 acres adjacent to the former Rite Aid on Benns Church Boulevard.

In four separate votes, the commissioners unanimously granted site plan approval for the Tennessee-based carwash chain’s expansion into Smithfield and an adjacent pump station, a Planning Commission waiver that will allow a roll-up door facing Benns Church Boulevard, an entrance corridor review and approval of a preliminary subdivision plat for the prospective development, dubbed “Cypress Crossing,” which calls for six commercial parcels. 

All four votes are among the rare instances where the Planning Commission, rather than Smithfield’s Town Council, has the final say. No rezoning is needed since the land is already zoned highway retail commercial.

Benns Church Boulevard is one of six designated entrance corridors through town, where Planning Commission approval is required for any structure built within 500 feet of a so-designated road. The submitted plans call for a 20-foot-tall, 4,540-square-foot carwash clad in a mix of brick and white stucco. The pump station would measure just under 29.2 square feet, also in brick veneer, and be surrounded by a black vinyl-coated chainlink fence and gate.

Separately, developer Hutton Smithfield VA ST LLC is working with the Virginia Department of Transportation to build an access road into the development from Benns Church Boulevard.

March 13 marked the end of the Virginia Department of Transportation’s public comment window on Hutton’s requested fourth leg of the intersection where South Church Street meets Benns Church Boulevard and the Route 10 Bypass, turning the existing three-way intersection into a four-way one to facilitate access to Cypress Crossing. The developer’s Chattanooga, Tennessee-based parent company, known just as Hutton, is also the parent company of ModWash.

The stretch of Route 10 that allows motorists to bypass downtown Smithfield, according to VDOT, was constructed as a limited access highway, meaning it was designed for through traffic. Any break in the traffic flow to accommodate a new intersection must be approved by Virginia’s 17-member Commonwealth Transportation Board.

Hutton describes ModWash on its website as “the fastest-growing car wash company in the U.S.” Modwash has Virginia locations in Danville, Lynchburg and Tappahannock, and its website lists a Smithfield location as “coming soon.”

Roger Rodriquez of the engineering firm Timmons Group and Michael Bryan, project development manager for Hutton, said the intersection expansion would start in the first quarter of 2026, contingent on receiving CTB approval later this year. The developer says the remaining parcels would be marketed to multiple commercial users, including national brands.