Drivers who’d prefer a gourmet coffee to a Styrofoam cup of joe while they get their oil changed will soon have a convenient option.
On Monday evening, Langley City council granted a development permit for work to begin on a new Wired Monk coffee house at 20112 Fraser Highway.
The property, located on the south side of the highway, sits next to Kostas Greek restaurant and already contains a four-bay Mr. Lube.
Once complete, it will be the first Wired Monk to include a drive-through lane, which will be long enough for nine vehicles to queue at a time, explained Pete Lovick of PJ Lovick Architects, who made the presentation to council at a committee of the whole on March 19.
To keep wait times down, the coffee shop will offer a limited menu at its drive-through window, said Lovick.
The 1,650 square foot building will also offer patio seating on its north side, separated from Fraser Highway by landscaping.
Access to the Wired Monk will be by right-in and right-out only from Fraser Highway, Lovick said. Drawings also indicate vehicles will be able to enter and exit from a back lane to the south of the lube shop.
Although a few council members expressed concern about idling vehicles and wondered whether signs could be put up asking motorists to turn off their engines once a certain number of vehicles had entered the line up, only Councillor Rosemary Wallace voted against the development, saying she couldn’t support a drive-through.
“I give them kudos for never having had a drive-through (before),” she said.
Construction on the new Wired Monk is expected to begin this spring.