Town council will soon adopt a zoning amendment that will see a new Dairy Queen in downtown Oliver.
Council recently gave third reading to the proposal at 6422 Main Street (across from the Oliver Legion) that will feature a 60-seat restaurant on the bottom floor and residential apartment units on the top floor.
Councillor Dave Mattes said he was initially concerned about the loss of parking on Veteran’s Avenue but was pleased to hear that will be offset by new parking on Main Street.
Mattes said he has property on Main Street near the car wash where there is a similar lane to the one near the Dairy Queen proposal.
“Based on my experience there, the lane handles the traffic just fine.”
Councillor Larry Schwartzenberger said the project fits in well with downtown revitalization that Oliver is trying to promote.
“In downtown development you want to have people working downtown, living downtown and playing downtown, and this project ticks all of those boxes, so I’m definitely in favour.”
Mayor Martin Johansen said he would like to work with the developer to reduce the length of the drive-thru entry and perhaps eliminate one of the access entrances off of Veterans Avenue. He would also like to see the drive-thru exit made to turn right only to reduce traffic on Main Street.
Director of Development Services Randy Houle said the developer is willing to work on these ideas.
