Both projects remain under county review, and September emails identify an unresolved groundwater cleanup question at the car wash site.

HOCKESSIN, Del. — No new plans have been posted in more than a year for a proposed McDonald’s near Limestone and Paper Mill roads, while a proposed car wash at Yorklyn Road and Lancaster Pike has new filings this year. Both remain in the first stage of county review, and the county still lists both applications as “Active Plans,” according to county land-use records.

Both projects came up at the Oct. 7 League of Women Voters of New Castle County forum for the New Castle County Council District 3 seat. Delaware LIVE said in its coverage of the forum that it would report on their status.

Table 1 below lists the details for each project. Neither project has completed the county’s initial review. The McDonald’s proposal needs rezoning and a full traffic study, while the car wash still faces zoning, environmental and planning reviews.

TABLE 1: Proposed McDonald’s and Spotless Car Wash

Project details
McDonald’s
Spotless Car Wash

Date filed
July 8, 2025
Nov. 24, 2025

Latest plan submission
Aug. 25, 2025
June 2, 2026

Proposed location
5709 Limestone Road, near Paper Mill Road
644 Yorklyn Road and 7351 Lancaster Pike

Building size
3,780 square feet
10,200 square feet

Requested exceptions to county rules
3 requested (listed below)
6 requested (listed below)

Rezoning needed?
Yes, from residential to neighborhood commercial; requires a public hearing and County Council vote (no date listed)
No rezoning proposed

Traffic study
Full study required by the Delaware Department of Transportation; none posted
Preliminary traffic analysis conditionally approved by the county; no full study listed

Current status

• First stage of county review
• Latest county review report: none posted
• Still incomplete: 11 of 13 reviews, including traffic and zoning

• First stage of county review
• Latest county review report: Aug. 6, 2026
• Still incomplete: zoning, environmental and planning reviews

(Source: New Castle County Department of Land Use project records and site plans for the McDonald’s and car wash, accessed Oct. 22, 2026. Table: Delaware LIVE.)

Requested exceptions to county rules

McDonald’s

• Fewer parking spaces (32 vs. 50 required)
• No landscaping in the required buffer along Limestone Road and the Route 72 connector
• A narrower buffer by the trash enclosure (15 vs. 25 feet)

Spotless Car Wash

• Fewer parking spaces (13 vs. 21 required)
• Paving 2 to 7 feet from the roads instead of 25 feet
• No landscaping in the required buffer along Yorklyn Road and Lancaster Pike
• No street trees along West Lancaster Pike
• Clearing or grading all of the wetland on the site
• Clearing or grading all of the land in a county groundwater protection area

The car wash’s environmental review

In 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) added about 32 acres of land along Lancaster Pike (Route 41) in Hockessin to its national cleanup list because of contaminated groundwater, according to its May 15, 2018, announcement. The same announcement said Artesian Water Company drew drinking water from wells in that area and treated it, and that the treated water met all drinking water standards.

The proposed Spotless Car Wash in Hockessin would sit in that same cleanup area. In a Sept. 16, 2026, email, the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) passed along the EPA’s statement that it could not yet tell whether letting rain soak into the ground at the site would affect the cleanup of the contaminated groundwater. The EPA said it was still mapping how far the contamination goes.

The developer’s engineer had written in August that the plan did not then call for letting rain soak into the ground. That option would depend on testing and the EPA’s confirmation that it would not affect the cleanup.

On a separate issue, the car wash site is also in a county groundwater protection area, where county rules limit how much land can be cleared or graded. The developer is asking for an exception to clear or grade all of the protected land on the site, according to the site plan. That request, like the developer’s other requested exceptions, would be decided by the county’s Board of Adjustment at a public hearing.

Learn more

For residents following the proposals, future public hearings will be important milestones. Both developers are requesting exceptions to county rules.

The county’s guide to the land development process explains how a project moves through review, from the first plan to construction. To see other projects under review, visit the county’s Active Plans page.