A neighbourhood pub, named after the Town of Oliver’s forefather, may be coming to the old Mesa Hotel site on Main Street.
On Tuesday, Town council looked at an application for a liquor licence transfer of location – from Desert Country Resort and Spa at 5717 Main Street to 6257 Main Street (vacant lot).
The applicant, Brown Bridge Ventures Ltd. and Desert Wine Country Development Corp., is seeking to establish the “John Oliver Pub,” which will operate as a neighbourhood pub, offering food, beverage and musical entertainment.
The proposed hours of operation will be noon to 2 am Monday to Saturday, and 11 am to midnight on Sundays. The prime months of operation will be May to September.
Town planner Chris Garrish made council aware that the applicant wants to increase the capacity/occupant load from 155 to 430 (including outdoor patio).
The applicant has stated that the town has lost two liquor primary licences in the past eight years. “The downtown core has many empty buildings and there has been no new development in many years.”
The property in question has sat vacant since the Mesa Hotel burned in 2010. The liquor licence previously associated with the hotel expired last fall.
Garrish said the proposed neighbourhood pub will likely mean an increase in noise downtown. In addition, the proposed increase in capacity from 155 to 430 people may have implications on parking in the area.
While the zoning bylaw requires an eating and drinking establishment to provide a minimum of one off-street parking space for every four seats, an exemption also exists which waives parking for the first storey of a downtown building or structure.
