Huckleberry’s Café is looking to go permanent.
The popular restaurant at 8195 Old Waneta Road will be taking its bid to a public forum as it endeavours to move from a temporary commercial use permit for its establishment to a service commercial C7C, allowing the eating establishment to continue on the site.
For the last four years the restaurant—operated by Carole Dasti—has used the property owned by Bill Garnett, alongside Columbia Valley greenhouses.
However, since the property was zoned service commercial (C7)—and eating establishments are not listed as a permitted use—the café had been able to operate under a temporary commercial use permit (TCUP).
A TCUP is issued for three years and may be renewed only once. And since the TCUP for Huckleberry’s was renewed in 2010, a rezoning of the property was required to allow the operation to continue.
But the change could impact the residents of the neighbourhood. The proposed change could allow the café to extend its hours past the 9 p.m. restriction in place with the TCUP.
As well, the availability of parking to serve the greenhouse and the café are limited during peak season, “creating a nuisance for the residential properties nearby,” read a city staff report to council.
Council opted to pursue a zoning amendment, rather than a full zoning bylaw amendment, to allow the café to continue.
A public hearing on the zoning amendment will be scheduled for Monday, July 16 at 6 p.m. in city council chambers.