Defeating a recommendation to change the zoning for the Kopper King doesn’t mean the city won’t take another drive through the issue down the road.

On Monday evening, city planning manager Pat Ross brought forward the recommendation that council defeat the proposed zoning amendment that would allow for a drive-thru at the Alaska Highway site just south of Porter Creek.

While council members didn’t argue against the recommendation, a few noted that if a specific plan for a drive-thru were to come forward they would like to see that considered.

The owners of the property made the application for the change as part of their efforts to sell the property.

As Ross outlined in his report: “No specific development is proposed.

“The property is for sale, and the applicant has stated that they wish to increase the marketability of this location.

“Existing uses on the lot include retail establishments, restaurants, a gas station, and a non-conforming residential mobile home park located at the rear of the property with approximately 30 mobile homes.”

It was just one resident of the mobile home park who spoke and also provided a written submission on the zoning change during a public hearing last month.

He argued the change could devalue the mobile homes, as potential home buyers may be less likely to purchase at the Kopper King because of the possibility of redevelopment.

He also noted it would be difficult to relocate the mobile homes to other areas of the city.

“Currently, the lot is zoned CH – Highway Commercial, which does not allow mobile home parks,” Ross stated.

“However, the Kopper King mobile home park is an existing non-conforming development, which means that the mobile homes can remain on the lot, but that further development cannot take place on the lot to increase its non-conformity (i.e.: increasing the number of mobile homes).

“A new proposed drive-thru could be added without increasing the non-conforming aspect of the mobile home park.

“If the zoning amendment was approved, it may increase the likelihood that the mobile home park will be impacted in order to facilitate new development.

“However, this is a speculative zoning amendment to increase the marketability of the location and no specific development plans have been proposed to indicate what would occur on the lot.”

It had been suggested the property could be subdivided and the mobile home park rezoned to Residential Mobile Home Park to bring it into conformity with the zoning.

However, Ross pointed out a change to the Official Community Plan (OCP) would first be required before such a change in zoning could be considered.

“The OCP designation of the Kopper King Mobile Home Park could be looked at in the upcoming OCP review which is tentatively scheduled to begin in late 2017,” he said.

Ross then went on to explain the recommendation to defeat the proposed zoning change that would allow a drive-thru.

He pointed out that a drive-thru would not be in-line with a number of OCP policies that aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to encourage businesses along the highway that complement rather than compete with downtown businesses.

“As such, it is recommended that this bylaw be defeated,” Ross stated

“A broader examination of land uses along the highway should be considered as part of the OCP review. This would include examining whether the broader range of uses should be allowed along the highway.”

And it appears at least a couple of council members are interested in looking at that possibility.

Coun. Jocelyn Curteanu was quick to ask how long before a potential zoning amendment could come back to council for a drive-thru if there was a prospective drive-thru business interested.

Ross noted that it’s possible such a proposal with detailed plans could come back fairly quickly, as it would be seen to be different from the more speculative amendment currently.

Coun. Dan Boyd meanwhile, wondered how many people perhaps make their way from the highway to downtown just to get a coffee in the morning, then head back up to the highway again for work.

Allowing for a drive-thru on the highway may alleviate some of the traffic congestion through the downtown area in the mornings, he suggested.

He noted he would like to see council remain open to the possibility of allowing a drive-thru should a more detailed proposal come forward.

In that case, he said he would like to see those plans come back to council for consideration.

Ross also went on to confirm there is – to his knowledge – only one property available for development that would allow for a new drive-thru in the downtown.

Council will vote on whether to defeat the zoning amendment next week.