Revelstoke City Council approved a development permit for a Boston Pizza as well as a second building that will feature a Dairy Queen with space for other commercial units, along the Trans-Canada Highway.
The application by Can-West Hotels is for their property that currently features the Ramada Hotel and will soon feature a second hotel.
READ MORE: New hotel coming to Revelstoke
The site plan for the property where the Ramada currently sits will feature a second hotel, the Boston Pizza and the Dairy Queen building. |
The 156 seat restaurant building with a 36 seat covered patio will be pre-cast concrete featuring a “variety of contemporary surface treatments,” the city staff report said and the wall to the north-west will not feature any windows and there will be opportunities to display tourism related signage.
The project proposal also includes landscaping improvements to the property as well as the addition of pedestrian walkways and crosswalks along Big Bend Rd and to the existing hotel.
The commercial building would also be pre-cast concrete with the northwest wall available for signage. It will feature a Dairy Queen and there is 2,400 sq. ft. still available for a second and possibly third business space.
READ MORE: Boston Pizza development proposed on Highway 1
City Councillors Rob Elliott and Michael Brooks-Hill expressed disappointment with the design of the buildings.
“My problem with this is, essentially, the buildings are ugly or there is no particular character to them. Like Councillor Elliott said if you were to stand in the parking lot on a cloudy day you could be anywhere,” Brooks-Hill said. “There is nothing that makes it Revelstoke at all.”
Brooks-Hill did however acknowledge that because the city currently has no design guidelines it seems unfair to ask developers for a change so far into the design process.
The applicant, Paul Deutsch was in the audience and addressed the design concerns, saying it is hard to come up with something when there are no city policies and they have to work within corporate guidelines.
“We want the story to be what Revelstoke is up there on the highway, we want to hear what you guys have to say, but until we have a sit down like this… we don’t know what people want,” Deutsch said.
City Council is planning on reviewing the Official Community Plan and Dawn Low, interim CAO for the city, said that design guidelines can be identified for the highway corridor during that process.
Council voted unanimously to support the development, with Councillors Cody Younker and Steven Cross absent from the meeting.
Â
@JDoll_Revyjocelyn.doll@revelstokereview.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.