The Washman sits beneath the Costa Viva condos.

A Bay Park resident stated his opposition to unpermitted business signs at Victor's Tire Shop and Car Wash (3030 Clairemont Drive) on Nextdoor in late June. He asked others to complain to the city. A thread of differing opinions followed in 167 comments into late September.

Victor's in June 2017.

Comments ranged from siding with the small business to avoid gentrification to hating the unprofessional signage for cheapening the neighborhood. One resident pointed to that whole side of the block as a “hot mess,” saying to only pick on Victor's didn't make much sense.

Rita Vander said while the complaints about signage have nothing to do with the quality of Victor's service or products, banners are only supposed to be temporary and they devalue his business as well as the community.

The brouhaha appeared to persuade some to patronize Victor's for the first time. "I have to say it was one of the greatest experiences I have ever had at a carwash," said Monica. "Not only did they do a phenomenal job but on top of it, the employees were super respectful and polite. I definitely will keep going back. I couldn't care less about the not so 'out of control' signs."

Some focused on the prior tenant, the Clairemont Car Wash, which went belly up after more than 30 years in the neighborhood.

One resident pointed to that whole side of the block as a hot mess saying to only pick on Victor's didn't make much sense.

Some blame the new car wash down the hill for Clairemont Car Wash's demise. The Washman car wash (2572 Clairemont Drive) opened in March 2016 and by the end of 2016, the Clairemont Car Wash had called it quits. Signage for Victor's showed up in early 2017 and they opened up shop shortly thereafter.

The Washman isn't without critics. The Jetsons-meets-Vegas style –car wash was nominated for an Onion award this year. Orchids and Onions are awards given to the creators of the best and worst in local architecture and design. Orchids are good, Onions are tacky.

The Washman, one block up from Mission Bay Park, got the Onion nod for "gaudy, ugly, and quirky development that is a visual blight on the community." Among its offenses, it was slammed for "disco club-like design" that "is despised by many neighbors." One of the least-favorite features for many neighbors are the nighttime lights that change colors as club music plays.

In 2016 grand opening advertisements, the Washman touted itself as the "world's first night time cosmic car wash" with more than 200,000 LED lights, blacklights, lasers, music, a live video feed, "and more!"

Victor's washes cars at the top of the hill and the Washman down below.

According to Craig Howard, an Orchids and Onions organizer, this is the first and only car wash nominated for an Orchid or Onion since the San Diego Architectural Foundation took over the program ten years ago. Awards will be given out today (October 26).

A resident of Costa Viva condos, next door to the Washman, said that besides the visual blight, even with double-pane windows, she gets an earful every day with workers yelling and playing music loudly. "Their music is on a loop, so Bob Marley after ten times is a little much."

Jonathan Widener said, "Complainers should realize they live in a massive city that is constantly evolving and either accept that or find a big city that doesn't change."

The two bays the Clairemont Car Wash used to wash cars in are now used for auto repair and storing tires. Victor's appears to hand-wash cars in the back parking lot.

The city received a citizen's complaint on February 1st citing Victor's unpermitted conversion from a car wash to a tire shop and noted that people were living in the building.

After the Nextdoor post in June, the city received several more complaints about excessive signage being an eyesore. The complaints continued into September.

An administrative citation warning was issued on September 22.

On October 18, Michael S. Richmond, deputy director from development services, said the warning "was issued for signage and unpermitted outdoor storage at this property. According to staff records, the responsible party has taken action to comply and full compliance is expected this week."

Richmond said, "All portable A-frame signs and banner signs are not permitted pursuant to the San Diego Municipal Code. Allowable permanent signage must be installed after obtaining a sign permit from the Development Services Department."

As of publication, some signage has come down but unpermitted signage remains and no application for signage was found during an online search. The compliance case remains open.

After repeated attempts, I failed to get an interview with Victor Dominguez, the owner of Victor's.