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Bethlehem officials are looking at the stability of the land at 55 Delaware Ave., where a Hoffman Car Wash and Jiffy Lube are located. The sunken area in the parking lot prompted the officials to close the business Monday over\u00a0fears of a possible landslide. (Will Waldron\/Times Union)<\/p>\n
Will Waldron\/Times Union<\/p>\n
The entrance to Hoffman Car Wash and Jiffy Lube is blocked by traffic cones after fear of a landslide prompted Bethlehem officials to close the business on Monday in Bethlehem. (Will Waldron\/Times Union)<\/p>\n
Will Waldron\/Times Union<\/p>\n
Bethlehem officials are looking at the stability of the land at 55 Delaware Ave., where a Hoffman Car Wash and Jiffy Lube are located. The sunken area in the parking lot prompted the officials to close the business Monday over\u00a0fears of a possible landslide. (Will Waldron\/Times Union)<\/p>\n
Will Waldron\/Times Union<\/p>\n
Bethlehem officials are looking at the stability of the land at 55 Delaware Ave., where a Hoffman Car Wash and Jiffy Lube are located. The sunken area in the parking lot prompted the officials to close the business Monday over\u00a0fears of a possible landslide. (Will Waldron\/Times Union)<\/p>\n
Will Waldron\/Times Union<\/p>\n
Bethlehem officials are looking at the stability of the land at 55 Delaware Ave., where a Hoffman Car Wash and Jiffy Lube are located. The sunken area in the parking lot prompted the officials to close the business Monday over\u00a0fears of a possible landslide. (Will Waldron\/Times Union)<\/p>\n
Will Waldron\/Times Union<\/p>\n
The entrance to Hoffman Car Wash and Jiffy Lube is blocked by traffic cones after fear of a landslide prompted Bethlehem officials to close the business on Monday on Delaware Ave. in Bethlehem. (Will Waldron\/Times Union)<\/p>\n
Will Waldron\/Times Union<\/p>\n
Surveying equipment is posted in the Hoffman Car Wash and Jiffy Lube parking lot after fear of a landslide prompted Bethlehem officials to close on Monday, Oct. 13, 2025, on Delaware Ave. in Bethlehem, N.Y. (Will Waldron\/Times Union)<\/p>\n
Will Waldron\/Times Union<\/p>\n
The cliffside below Hoffman Car Wash and Jiffy Lube is viewed from the Normans Kill below on Monday, Oct. 13, 2025, on Delaware Ave. in Bethlehem, N.Y. Bethlehem officials closed the business due to concerns about a landslide. (Will Waldron\/Times Union)<\/p>\n
Will Waldron\/Times Union<\/p>\n
The cliffside below Hoffman Car Wash and Jiffy Lube is viewed from the Normans Kill below on Monday, Oct. 13, 2025, on Delaware Ave. in Bethlehem, N.Y. Bethlehem officials closed the business due to concerns about a landslide. (Will Waldron\/Times Union)<\/p>\n
Will Waldron\/Times Union<\/p>\n
Surveying equipment is posted in the Hoffman Car Wash and Jiffy Lube parking lot after fear of a landslide prompted Bethlehem officials to close the business on Monday, Oct. 13, 2025, on Delaware Ave. in Bethlehem, N.Y. (Will Waldron\/Times Union)<\/p>\n
Will Waldron\/Times Union<\/p>\n
The Hoffman Car Wash and Jiffy Lube on Delaware Avenue were closed Sunday amid concerns\u00a0from Bethlehem town officials that the land behind the businesses was at risk of collapse.<\/p>\n
Patrick Tine \/ Times Union<\/p>\n
The Bethlehem hillside where town officials say a 23-feet-long crack has emerged which poses an “imminent threat to public safety.” The Hoffman Car Wash and Jiffy Lube location at the top of the hill have been ordered closed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Patrick Tine<\/p>\n
ARCHIVE PHOTO: Worries about the stability of a hillside along the Normans Kill creek prompted the town of Bethlehem to order the closure of the Hoffman Car Wash and Jiffy Lube at 55 Delaware Ave. The area along the creek is prone to landslides. In May 2000, a vegetable stand in the area was destroyed when the land below it gave way. The aftermath of that collapse is shown above. (Philip Kamrass\/Times Union)<\/p>\n
PHILIP KAMRASS\/DG<\/p>\n
The Hoffman Car Wash and Jiffy Lube on Delaware Avenue were closed Sunday amid concerns\u00a0from Bethlehem town officials that the land behind the businesses was at risk of collapse.<\/p>\n
Patrick Tine \/ Times Union<\/p>\n
BETHLEHEM\u00a0\u2014 A 23-foot crack in the earth off Delaware Avenue abutting the Normans Kill poses an \u201cimminent threat to public safety,\u201d the town of Bethlehem said in a statement Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Hoffman Car Wash and Jiffy Lube at 55 Delaware Ave. are closed while Bethlehem officials scrutinize the stability of the land where the businesses are located. \u201cPortions of the slope on the property are actively moving,\u201d the statement said, citing a report issued by the town\u2019s geotechnical engineer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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The car wash and the oil change shop will remain closed until the property is deemed safe, the town said. Town Supervisor David\u00a0VanLuven declined to comment or offer an update Monday morning and referred media requests to Jim Potter, the town attorney.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Potter said that the report issued last week by the town\u2019s engineering contractor,\u00a0CHA Consulting, revealed the slope extending beneath the north side of the parking lot where the car wash and garage are located is at a point where \u201cthe forces of stability and the forces of instability are at equilibrium.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAny outside force\u00a0\u2014 an earthquake, a heavy rainfall, (additional weight) at the top of the slope\u00a0\u2014 could potentially push the slope into instability,\u201d Potter said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The northwest side of the parking lot, where the crack is visible, is the area most likely to give way. \u201cWe\u2019re concerned if the slope were to fail, would it stop at that crack or would it extend into the parking area\u2019s lanes of travel?\u201d Potter said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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CHA and an engineering firm hired by Hoffman Car Wash are both assessing the situation on the hillside. Potter said he was not sure if the two firms had communicated yet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHoffman\u2019s engineering firm has their data; we are trying to facilitate their acquisition of the other data,\u201d Potter said. \u201cThey can look at it to determine if they agree with the analysis performed by our geotechnical engineers, and if they do, they can evaluate it to determine what the plane of failure would be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Potter said town officials had met with some representatives from Hoffman, who told them the \u201carea of instability that is observed in the parking lot\u201d does not extend to the structure housing the repair shop and the car wash.<\/p>\n
Town officials had met with National Grid engineers in recent months who assured them that even if the slope collapsed, power could be quickly rerouted, which would prevent an extended power outage, Potter said. A large utility pole carrying power lines is in the center of the parking lot.<\/p>\n
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Television station WRGB-Channel 6 first reported on the developments on Sunday.<\/p>\n
National Grid spokesperson Patrick Stella said Monday afternoon that the utility company had been monitoring the slope for the last year and had detected recent movement on the hill. The company has installed new gas pipelines deeper into the earth and is in the process of connecting the line to a gas regulator station on the western side of the Normans Kill.<\/p>\n
Stella said that process will take several weeks, and that burying the lines deeper into the ground should protect the infrastructure should the slope give way.<\/p>\n
Above-ground utility lines on a pole in the center of the Hoffman parking lot will also be moved in the coming months, Stella said.<\/p>\n
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The town\u2019s statement also said the state Department of Transportation had determined Delaware Avenue itself was safe and did not need to be closed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tom Hoffman Jr., the CEO of the car wash chain, said he met with the Bethlehem code enforcement officer Friday and was informed the town had decided to close the car wash and the garage before a nor\u2019easter that was expected to move into the region Monday.<\/p>\n
Hoffman said the town based its decision to close the businesses on several years’ worth of data it had reviewed from Hoffman\u2019s engineering contractor, C.T. Male Associates. Hoffman said his engineers told him the document that town officials cited as proof of imminent potential danger did not rise to the level of a formal report.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not really a study or anything, but they did a quick look again,\u201d Hoffman said.<\/p>\n
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\u201cC.T. Male has not felt that there\u2019s been enough concern to tell us ‘Hey, we should close down or we should do anything,’\u201d Hoffman said. \u201cAnd, again, the engineering firm the town has used is only referencing our own data. So our engineering firm\u2019s opinion is we were fine to be opening, and the town\u2019s engineering firm feels we shouldn\u2019t be.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said data compiled by C.T. Male showed there had been .7 inches of earth movement on the hillside over the last several years.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not a 23-foot-deep crack,\u201d Hoffman said. \u201cIt\u2019s movement at 23 feet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the apparent friction between the two assessments, Hoffman said he was not frustrated with the town\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI actually completely understand why they\u2019re taking this position,\u201d Hoffman said. \u201cYou\u2019re a town and you have health and safety and you have to listen to the experts you hire.\u201d<\/p>\n
The area along the\u00a0Normans Kill has experienced landslides<\/a> before<\/a>.<\/p>\n