DALTON, Ga. — Just a little more time. That’s what members of the Dalton City Council say they need before voting on a rezoning request that a developer says is needed to bring an Olive Garden restaurant to Dalton.

“We are having (City Attorney) Gandi Vaughn look at whether there are any covenants or restrictions on the property that could limit its use as commercial property,” said council member Denise Wood.

“We need to know what our options are,” said council member Gary Crews.

In November, Dalton attorney Daniel Laird told members of the Dalton-Whitfield Planning Commission that developers Naren Patel and his son Anish Govan plan to bring an Olive Garden to the former site of the O’Charley’s restaurant at 1520 W. Walnut Ave., which is near the interstate.

But Laird said Olive Garden requires 150 to 180 parking spaces, almost double what the site has. That’s why Govan is requesting that the City of Dalton rezone 1.7 acres the father and son own at 108 Kinnier Court, in the Dickson Acres subdivision, to C-2 commercial from R-1 residential. The plan is to destroy the house on the site and turn it into a parking lot with about 80 spaces.

Members of the Dickson Acres subdivision, where the Kinnier Court property is located, packed the planning commission meeting, with residents overwhelmingly opposing the rezoning.

“We are very happy that the City Council is taking the time to study this issue,” said John Didier, a member of the Dickson Acres Architectural Committee.

Typically, council members vote on rezoning requests at one of their meetings in the month following the the planning commission meeting. But council members did not vote at either of their December meetings, and on Monday, they said they expect they will vote on the matter at their Jan. 6 meeting.

Vaughn said that even if he finds there are restrictions that limit the use of the property the council could still vote to rezone it.

Council members agreed that ultimately their decision may not rest on whether there are restrictions on the land.

“We don’t want to stand in the way of economic progress,” said council member Annalee Harlan. “At the same time, that development has to be geographically appropriate. We don’t want to impinge too much on residential neighborhoods.”

Crews agreed.

“We need to make sure we have a clear understanding of what the developer’s plans are as well as what the concerns of the neighborhood are,” he said.

Planning commission members voted 3-0 to recommend denying the rezoning request, saying they didn’t want to see a change in the nature of Dickson Acres.

Laird said he is hopeful that the council “will arrive at a resolution that will allow us to move forward in an amicable way.”