The idea of providing new office and meeting space for the town's non-profit and charitable groups was first suggested 11 years ago.
Now, the Wanaka Community House Charitable Trust has applied for resource consent to build on land in McDougall St owned by the Anglican Diocese of Dunedin and also occupied by St Columba's Anglican Church.
The site is zoned low density residential, and using it for the community house would require a ''non-complying activity'' resource consent.
The building proposed would be 45m long, 20m wide, 5m high and cover an area of 684sq m.
A hall able to accommodate 140 people would take up about a third of the floor area, with the remaining space for offices and meeting rooms.
In the trust's consent application, planner Scott Edgar, of Southern Land Ltd, outlined the building's uses.
The hall would take the overflow from the church and accommodate large weddings or funerals, post-church service gatherings on a Sunday, and other church events.
It could also be used for community events between 8am and 10.30pm each day, and up to midnight 10 times per year.
Mr Edgar said it should be noted the hall would be used as a ''gathering place for refreshments'' after wedding ceremonies but ''it will not be used commercially to host wedding receptions''.
The office space would be rented to groups such as Community Networks, Budget Advice and government agencies.
Mr Edgar said a 2004 council report identified 65 ''community support type'' organisations that might make use of it and letters of support had been offered by a variety of groups including the Cancer Society, the Festival of Colour and Wanaka Community Board.
Two neighbours had not given the proposal their written approval.
Mr Edgar said the community house could be financially self-sustaining, provided it was completed debt-free.
It was proposed to provide 17 on-site car parking spaces rather than the 34 that would be needed to meet district plan requirements.
A parking assessment found the reduced number of on-site parks would not result in ''significant adverse effects'' because the hall was used mainly at night and the weekends, and the office space during business hours.
Mr Edgar asked that the consent application be ''non-notified'' because it would not result in adverse effects that were more than minor.
