A Canmore restaurant looking to expand its operations and develop a distillery and brewhouse on its property has been successful at getting a development permit for the project.
Blake restaurant on Bow Valley Trail was initally denied a development permit by the Town of Canmore’s planning department for an expansion of its location to establish alcohol-manufacturing operations. However, owner Norm Flann successfully appealed the decision to Canmore’s Subdivision and Development Appeal Board in February.
Flann is a part owner of RAW Distillery and the success of the Canmore restaurant led by his son and executive chef Blake Flann has resulted in the desire to establish the additional use.
“Blake and I are thrilled and excited beyond just words to announce the latest chapter in our adventure,” said Flann after the appeal was upheld. “We are so proud to announce the new partnership between B&N Foods (Blake) and RAW Distillery.”
Flann has partnered with RAW founders Brad and Lindsay Smylie and said their commitment to excellence, quality of product, branding and vision was a natural fit with his business.
“Each respective business not only compliments one another, but share and bolster the same passion for delivering excellence of product to our customers,” Flann said.
But the expansion plans created for the partnership required nine variances to the Land Use Bylaw as a result of the fact it is a renovation on an existing building.
Blake is located inside a former automotive garage and faced similar challenges in 2016 for development approvals as a result.
According to manager of planning Alaric Fish, while light manufacturing is a discretionary use in the district, the planning department does not have the authority to grant the number and size of variances requested.
“This site has a fair bit of undeveloped area at the front,” Fish said. “There are some aspects of this site that make it harder (to redevelop).
“If this was a brand new application on a vacant site we would have a different approach to it.”
As a result, Flann appealed the refusal to the subdivision and development appeal board, which heard the appeal on Feb. 21. The board upheld the appeal, paving the way for expansion to move forward.
Variances requested were to the setbacks for the rear property line, side property line, minimum floor area ratio, eave lines, parking stall depth, roof pitch, street orientation, parking location and architectural requirements.
The new design would relocate the front entrance on the side of the building, and create a distillery at the back of the property. The Bow Valley Trail area redevelopment plan, however, requires development to be situated at the front of the property with an entrance in that location, and parking at the rear.
Flann said because he chose to redevelop the property instead of demolish and build a new structure, many of the district’s requirements are not possible for his business to adhere to.
“I believe the appeal should be considered more of a redevelopment against the backdrop of sustainability rather than a new permit,” he said. “I welcome this process and the evolution of Canmore developing and becoming a vibrant, self-sustaining economy.
“I chose to repurpose an existing structure into a restaurant and now I wish to expand it further … it is simply not feasible to pick up the entire building and move it forward.”
Fish noted that even with nine variances, the changes proposed bring the property closer to the requirements of the bylaw than before.
“We never want to see an application with nine variances and I don’t think applicants want that,” he said. “It is really hard when renovating existing buildings and that is what is driving this application.”
The expansion would see 5,000 square feet added to the restaurant to accommodate a state of the art continuous flow still, which Flann said would be the largest craft still of its kind in Canada.
“It will also house our own brand new micro brewing facility, designed for small batches to brew our very own signature beers served fresh from the tanks to you,” he said. “Other features of the new expansion will include a new, more user friendly entrance to our dinning room and patio, a full service bar at our entrance and waiting area and a tasting and viewing room of the distilling and brewing operations, to accommodate tours, groups and private functions.”
