Future site (53003 Bunker Road) of commercial developments planned for Popkum. (Image Credit: Mike Vanden Bosch.)
Proposed commercial developments

Several drive-through restaurants, including McDonald’s, eyed for land along Highway 9 east of Chilliwack

Jun 22, 2026 | 6:57 AM

POPKUM – A committee of the Fraser Valley Regional District is set to vote on two motions this week that could facilitate the construction of several drive-through restaurants along Highway 9 just north of Highway 1 in Popkum, including a McDonald’s.

According to items 9.1 and 9.2 on this Thursday’s FVRD board meeting agenda (June 25 at 6 p.m.), the Electoral Area Services Committee will review a pair of motions to issue form and character development permits for commercial developments at 53003 and 53022 Bunker Road east of Chilliwack.

One of those two motions, if approved, would authorize FVRD representatives to execute all documents necessary for the civil servicing of 53003 Bunker Road.

For the property at 53003 Bunker Road, which is the site of an existing Petro Canada gas station, the FVRD board will be asked to increase the maximum permitted signage area from 5.0m² to 41m² to permit a free-standing advertising sign, waive the minimum servicing requirements for connection to a community sewer system, and other setback requests.

This lot directly south of 53003 Bunker Road is proposed to be one of four drive-through restaurants planned for the nearby Highway 1/Highway 9 intersection.
This lot directly south of 53003 Bunker Road is proposed to be one of four drive-through restaurants planned for the nearby Highway 1/Highway 9 intersection. (Image Credit: Mike Vanden Bosch.)

According to an FVRD staff report from planner David Bennett, the application for the property at 53003 Bunker Road features a drive-through restaurant and a commercial retail building.

Renderings included in the staff report indicate the drive-through restaurant at this location is a McDonald’s, since it is explicitly referenced in the FVRD documents. The proposed McDonald’s would be located directly south of the parking lot of Petro Canada and Subway.

FVRD says the proposed commercial uses, a drive-thru restaurant and a commercial retail building, comply with the Gateway Commercial zoning and no zoning or Official Community Plan amendment is required. The Gateway Commercial designation is intended to describe general commercial, highway commercial, tourist accommodation, and accessory uses to serve the travelling public and meet the day-to-day needs of the local community.

For the property closer to the highway at 53022 Bunker Road, the proposed commercial uses feature three drive-through restaurants, a car wash, gas station and a commercial retail building. All of the proposed uses comply with the Gateway Commercial zoning and no zoning or Official Community Plan amendment is required. The names of these restaurants are not mentioned in a staff report from David Bennett, the FVRD planner.

Bennett noted in his staff report that 53022 Bunker Road is a large commercial property of approximately 1.94 ha (4.8 acres) and was recently created through the consolidation of three lots.

Construction site, which appears to be the property location of 53022 Bunker Road, which could house three drive-through restaurants, a gas station, car wash and a commercial building.
A construction site, which appears to be the property location of 53022 Bunker Road, that could house three drive-through restaurants, a gas station, car wash and a commercial building. (Image Credit: Mike Vanden Bosch.)

The zoning bylaw calculates permitted signage allowances on a per-lot basis. As the property is being developed with five separate buildings, each with different commercial tenants, the cumulative freestanding sign allowance of 5m² per side is considered insufficient for this project. Two free-standing signs are proposed that would feature a single-sided sign located at the corner of Bunker Road and Highway 9, and a double-sided sign located within the development site.