The owners of a former cowboy-themed bar building on Queensway are one step closer to transforming the property into an insurance office after receiving a development variance permit at the Prince George city council meeting on Monday, March 24.
The owners of the former Cowboy Ranch at 2595 Queensway are seeking the variance to change the land use to "service, financial" and increase the maximum gross leasable floor area from 280 square metres to 493 square metres.
“The applicant is proposing to redevelop the existing vacant building to house an insurance office at the former Cowboy Ranch Cookhouse,” said a report from city staff. “The footprint of the existing building is not proposed to change.”
Included with the agenda is a letter from Brett Nicholson, managing director of Wilson M. Beck Insurance Services, currently located at 3685 Massey Dr.
“As we were looking to expand our company, we realized that the existing office space we occupied would no longer meet our requirements,” Nicholson wrote.
“As we set out to look for a new space, we expanded our search from leased buildings to purchased properties. During our search, we were fortunate enough to find the property at 2595 Queensway, which was vacant, for sale, and where renovation demolition of the existing pub interior had already begun.”
Nicholson went on to explain that when they purchased the building, the company was unaware that the zoning limited the leasable space to one tenant with a floor area of 280 square metres.
He argued that the business would have less impact on the neighbourhood than the previous tenant, as most of their work is conducted over the phone or online.
At one point, the letter states, the building was being renovated to house a denturist’s office.
The application is also supported by four letters, though three are identical and come from different representatives of the same business.
Council approved the permit unanimously at the meeting.
