Although a much-anticipated bowling alley-anchored shopping center has yet to materialize, one of the development's prospective tenants may soon start shoveling ground.

On Thursday, the Turlock Planning Commission will consider an application from Prime Shine Car Washes to build a new facility near the corner of Monte Vista Avenue and Crowell Avenue – part of the long-delayed Ten Pin Fun Center shopping center.

Should the car wash be approved it would require phasing the Ten Pin Fun Center development, allowing previously-approved outlying commercial and office pads to be constructed before the bowling center. The car wash would be located on one of those pads, alongside Monte Vista Avenue.

Earning Commissioner approval to build out the pads before the bowling center could be a tough task.

The land was previously zoned for housing, and rezoning was approved only because the development would bring a bowling alley to Turlock. In their decision, commissioners weighed Turlock's need for entertainment above that for housing on the site.

The entertainment portion of the development was considered so vital to approval that Commissioners set specific requirements that developers build the bowling center first.

If construction begins on the pads, however, it would effectively lock-in the remaining land for use as a bowling alley. Developers could only construct something else with explicit Planning Commission and City Council approval. The planned development requiring a bowling center on that site would otherwise expire in 2020, allowing developers to build whatever they wished.

Differing from tradition, Turlock staff has made no recommendation on the proposal's fate. Planners note that either approving or denying would potentially go against General Plan policies; the General Plan does not want the land to sit vacant when businesses could be located there, but the site was approved specifically for a bowling center.

Commissioners first approved the Ten Pin Fun Center in November 2010. The 52,000 square-foot center plans to include 34 lanes of bowling, a multi-level laser tag arena, an arcade, a sports bar and grill with a two-story Jumbotron, and outdoor bocce ball courts. Development has been stalled due to troubles securing financing.

On Thursday, the Turlock Planning Commission is also expected to:
• Swear in newly re-appointed Planning Commissioners Jeanine Bean and Soraya Fregosi, then seat the new commission.
• Hold a workshop to discuss potential changes to Turlock Municipal Code which would allow some businesses to install electrified security fences.
• Elect a chair and vice chair for the Planning Commission. Each will serve through January 2014.
• Review Stanislaus County Planning items which may affect the City of Turlock.
Taylor Veterinary Emergency Hospital, located just outside of city limits, is requesting permission to construct a new, 6,000 square foot building. The building would serve as a kennel and grooming facility.
Additionally, Planning Commissioners will review progress made in the ongoing Stanislaus County Agriculture Element update, which discusses how farmland is used in the county.
• Deputy Director of Development Services Debbie Whitmore will provide staff updates on an upcoming mini-conference on retaining farmland as an economic engine, and “A Home for Everyone,” which looks to plan San Joaquin Valley housing through 2050.

The Turlock Planning Commission will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Yosemite Room of Turlock City Hall, 156 S. Broadway.