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City staff suggest council nix potential drive thru

Staff are recommending Whitehorse City Council not allow a proposed drive-thru at the Kopper King property near Porter Creek.

Staff are recommending Whitehorse City Council not allow a proposed drive-thru at the Kopper King property near Porter Creek.

Owners of the business on the Alaska Highway are trying to sell. They want council to approve a zoning amendment that would allow a hypothetical new buyer to have a drive-thru, making the property more marketable.

But there’s no buyer yet, planning manager Pat Ross told council on Jan. 9, and that makes it difficult for city staff to know what kind of impact a drive-thru would have.

Currently the only area in Whitehorse that allows drive-thrus is the north-end commercial area of downtown.

“Without the ability to assess the specifics of a particular business and based on the speculative nature of the application, administration is recommending that this bylaw be defeated,” Ross said.

The city’s official community plan is slated to be reviewed later this year. Land uses along the Alaska Highway will be examined as part of the review, Ross said.