McDonald’s is proposing to operate a 445sqm restaurant at 237 Wānaka-Luggate Highway, with a drive-through operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
More than 90% of the 366 public submissions to the proposal were opposed to the restaurant, and an online petition calling for the plans to be scrapped garnered more than 5920 signatures.
Yesterday, senior council planner Andrew Woodford filed a report recommending the consent application be refused.
"The restaurant and drive-through activity is not considered appropriate in the location proposed, given the scale and nature of the activity (24 hours a day, seven days a week), along with the lighting and signage which I consider to be more urban in nature than rural," he wrote in his report.
"Overall, I consider the activity does not fit with the rural character of the site ... "
But the proposed restaurant is not dead in the water yet.
The council and more than 100 submitters will speak at the council’s four-day hearing into the matter, in Wānaka on November 25-28, before a decision is made.
The proposal is given the thumbs down by Mr Woodford for various reasons.
The restaurant will have adverse impact on nearby Mt Iron — an outstanding natural feature in the council’s proposed district plan.
The development is considered more urban than rural in nature. It is zoned rural in both the operative plan and the proposed plan.
Proposed signage, lighting and built form will result in cumulative adverse effects on the environment.
It said the proposal would give rise to "more than minor adverse effects" on the landscape character, visual amenity effects, cumulative effects and the development as a whole did not maintain or enhance the anticipated landscape outcomes anticipated to be achieved within the rural zone and rural character landscape.
The subject site was not located within an outstanding natural landscape; however, it does sit at the foot of Mt Iron.
"A design that responds to the unique character of the site at the perceived gateway to Wānaka would perhaps be more warranted to address the landscape values and character of the site and surrounding area."
Mr Woodford wrote that the drive-in activity was not anticipated to create adverse traffic effects on the wider environment that are more than minor or unacceptable.
After reviewing expert evidence, Mr Woodford concluded the proposed traffic generation effects of the proposed development would not be more than minor and therefore acceptable on the environment.
The most common complaints in the public submissions process included location, visual impact, concerns about rubbish, the nutritional value of McDonald’s food and potential negative impacts on local businesses.
A set of conditions should the restaurant be approved is included in the council report and the panel at the hearing are not bound to what the council recommends.
McDonald’s is aiming to open the facility in 2026.
