A plan to put a craft brewery and lounge into downtown Maple Ridge cleared its first hurdle Monday after a council committee forwarded an application to a regular meeting.
Silver Valley Brewing, a husband-and-wife Maple Ridge company, wants to put in a 150-sq.-metre, 25-seat pub where beer would be brewed on site for customers at 11952 – 224th St., the site of the former Just Ducky shop.
Light snacks would be provided in what would be mainly a liquor-serving facility.
A request for the text amendment that would allow the lounge was sent on to a future council meeting.
A staff report notes that a microbrewery, Ridge Brewing Company, tried last year to get a lounge licence for its premises on Dewdney Trunk Road and 228th Street. However, that was rejected because it was out of the central downtown business area.
The Silver Valley Brewing project would be a smaller operation within the downtown core area, which staff say is easier to support.
No major renovations of the building are part of the project.
Brandi Fulton told council that the operation is considered a nano-brewery and would partner with Golden Ears Cheesecrafters and Hardbite Potato Chips in serving local food.
New Tims
Maple Ridge could be getting another Tim Horton’s drive-through restaurant if an application gets city approval.
Chun Low and Man Low have applied for rezoning of half an acre at 11951 – 240th Street to put in the one-storey restaurant, just south of Dewdney Trunk Road.
A staff report notes that access to the location will temporarily be from 240th Street. But because of increasing traffic flows, a separate access will be required, connecting the Outpost Liquor Store to the north and another lot to the south, providing access to all three via the southern lot.
Part of the proposal includes an application to put in a sound barrier and landscaping on the western side of the lot to mitigate against the effects on the homes nearby.
Similarly, the order boxes for the drive-through lanes will be facing away from the homes. A two-lane corridor with capacity for 16 vehicles will speed things along for the drive through order area.
A staff report says the applicants also own the Tim Horton’s on 232nd Street and Dewdney Trunk Road. With another one nearby, congestion on the former should be relieved.
Tower application
The developer who wants to put up an 18-storey, 126-unit condo tower at 22588 Brown Ave., is asking for another year to get the project underway.
Rena Canada Properties wants to put up the tower, just east of a larger project where four towers are proposed.
Maple Ridge council gave the project third reading in December 2015, so the one-year extension would be retroactive to that date. A staff report says the application is being pursued, but the owner is periodically out of the country, explaining the request for the extension.
Part of the project includes the purchase of the city-owned parking lot 22576 Brown Ave.
Last year, the project by Ascent One Properties, just to the west on the corner of Edge Street and Brown Avenue, also received a one-year extension.
That complex is proposed to be built over eight years and will have 240 residential units.