Approval for Carl's Jr

Fast food restaurant Carl's Jr has been granted resource consent to build a restaurant on Rotorua's Amohau St, next to McDonald's creating between 50-70 jobs.

Carl's Jr applied for resource consent earlier this month to build an 80-seat 275sq m drive-through restaurant at 1138 Amohau St, with 26 car parks.

Vehicles will be able to enter from and exit on to Amohau St and at the rear of the site adjacent to the carpark for Kurious Kiwi and Burger King.

Carl's Jr is an American fast food restaurant chain. Its first restaurant in New Zealand opened in 2011. There are now seven in Auckland and one in Palmerston North. Over time, the company expects to have between 35-60 Carl's Jr restaurants around the country.

The application did not need to be publicly notified as the site is in a commercial zone.

However, in the Rotorua District Council's decision to grant consent, it said the adverse effects of the development on the owners and occupiers of adjacent land were minor. All parties who could be adversely affected had provided written approval and so limited notification was not needed.

The council said the site was located on a prominent location within the CBD and on a state highway and any design was expected to reflect that. Access to and from the site is expected to ensure the continued safety and efficiency of the CBD and state highway.

Carl's Jr has received approval from the New Zealand Transport Agency for access to and from Amohau St. "The approval is conditional upon the layout of the carpark, provision of a stop controlled exit on to the state highway [Amohau St] and restriction upon the size of delivery vehicles and timing of deliveries."

Carl's Jr had previously been granted building consent.

Carl's Jr could not be reached for comment but the restaurant is owned by Restaurant Brands and general manager of Carl's Jr for Restaurant Brands, Craig Neal has previously said any store location for Rotorua remained a proposal until applications and consents had been approved. Once the council had granted approval, Restaurant Brands would then review the proposal.