Local opposition to a proposed new truck travel centre in Dallas has led Kamloops councillors to turn down the application.

A numbered company had proposed to invest about $10 million by building a commercial cardlock, a gas station, a car wash and a restaurant at a vacant property near Highway 1, at 7750 Dallas Drive.

The property is zoned correctly to allow a gas station and similar uses, but a covenant on the property prevents those kinds of uses from being put in, and council was being asked to modify the covenant.

Council members opposed the application by a 5-3 vote, with mayor Ken Christian and councillors Mike O’Reilly and Bill Sarai voting in favor of it. Councillor Dieter Dudy could not vote because of technical issues during the hearing.

Councillor Kathy Sinclair says more than 100 residents in that area signed a petition, wrote letters or spoke at Tuesday’s virtual public hearing.

While Kamloops city staff say the vacant lot is a suitable piece of land for the commercial cardlock, Sinclair says she wasn’t surprised by the decision made by council based on opposition expressed at the public hearing.

“I think if anything there would’ve been more presence from the neighborhood that opposed that development, if there had been an in-person public hearing.”

Locals were concerned with a potential increase in truck traffic, and some pointed out that a truck travel centre already exists on the other side of the highway in Dallas.