City officials approved several requests earlier this month for a new Dairy Queen to be constructed near the Interstate 75, U.S. Highway 27 interchange in northwest Ocala.
On Tuesday, December 17, the Ocala City Council voted to approve several ordinances related to the annexation, rezoning, and change of future land use of a 1.29-acre parcel located at 4001 NW Blitchton Road.
The ordinances were introduced during the council’s first meeting in November and were unanimously recommended for approval by the Ocala Planning and Zoning Commission before that.
The property is owned by C.L.D. Properties, LTD, which is registered to Bradford Dinkins of Dinkins Construction. The agent of record is Tracy Rains of Dinkins Realty, LLC.
Plans call for construction of a “Dairy Queen Grill and Chill” restaurant. The restaurant will be approximately 2,208 square feet in size and will be situated less than a quarter of a mile away from the interchange at Interstate 75 and U.S. Hwy 27/441.
According to a city staff report, the parcel was previously developed as a saloon until it was destroyed by a fire and demolished in 1995. Since then, the property had sat vacant and had been used as overflow tractor-trailer truck parking for nearby businesses.
The new Dairy Queen is will replace the Dairy Queen at 4430 W Hwy 326, which closed down several weeks ago.
Although Ocala-News.com could not confirm whether or not the location is permanently closed, or if its closure was related, a call to the establishment led to a disconnected voicemail and the restaurant’s online delivery options were terminated over the summer.
Outside of the northwest part of Ocala, Dairy Queen also operates one additional restaurant in the city along East Silver Springs Boulevard.
