Rutland will have to wait just a little longer for a new car wash.
A project slated for Highway 33 and Dougall Road was tabled at the city council meeting on Monday.
The land was rezoned back in 2015, when the applicants' proposed project included a mixed-use building at the front of the property line, contributing to the urban streetscape.
Due to the size of the project, the applicant’s agent told council that funding was hard to secure, so they decided to postpone construction on the second building.
Councillors discussed the design and decided it was not in keeping with the Urban Centre Streetscape Plan.
“We only get one chance to develop this site. I look at it and say 'what is the highest invest use into the future?' I think when we brought the other building alongside with this one in the previous application, it met the requirements of that street,” said Coun. Gail Given.
Mayor Colin Basran struggled with endorsing a primarily vehicle oriented project in an urban center.
“With no assurance that the second building will come to fruition, while I appreciate the intent of the applicant, there’s no guarantee that that will take place. And so that's where I struggle because in any other urban centre, a car wash right in the center of it? I don’t think I could support,” said Basran.
Instead of denying the proposal altogether, Councillor Mohini Singh put forward a motion to defer the project.
“This is simply not good enough at this stage for our city and I want to be able to give the applicant a chance at coming back with something better, that fits the area better, fits within our guidelines and builds up Rutland,” said Singh.
She said council wants to see business come to Rutland and contribute to the prosperity of the urban core but it has to be the right project.
Basran instructed the applicants to work on the projects’ design and come back with a plan that meets the guidelines of an urban centre streetscape at a later date.