Dublin city councillors have rejected Seán Dunne's proposed high-rise development, which includes a 37-storey tower, on the site of the former Jurys and Berkeley Court hotels in Ballsbridge on the grounds that it contravenes the city development plan.
Senior city planner Kieran Rose yesterday confirmed that Mr Dunne's application contravenes the statutory development plan because it includes office space, which is not permitted under the current zoning.
However, Mr Rose told councillors that the planners could decide to grant the application with the condition that the office units, which account for 15 per cent of the overall development, would be omitted.
Councillors were presented with details of Mr Dunne's proposed residential and commercial development for the first time since the developer submitted his application on August 31st, at a specially convened southeast area council meeting yesterday.
City councillors can block Mr Dunne's current application by refusing to make a change to the development plan to allow the land to be zoned for office use. The city planners can direct that the proposed offices be removed from the plan. However, because office space accounts for a substantial portion of the site, it is likely that the plans would have to be redrawn.
Councillors from all parties in the southeast area, except Fianna Fáil, voted to reject the proposal on that grounds that it "is inconsistent with the Dublin City Development Plan and would be injurious to the good planning of the area".
The motion was supported by Labour, Sinn Féin and Fine Gael councillors. The lone Fianna Fáil councillor Deirdre Keane, who recently joined the council, replacing Chris Andrews following his election to the Dáil, abstained from voting.
The councillors' recommendation for rejection does not automatically mean a development will not be granted planning permission, but their views must be taken into account by the city planners.
The planners, or the city manager, cannot alter the development plan without councillors' permission.
If Mr Dunne requires offices to make his scheme viable he is unlikely to secure permission for the development.
Mr Rose told the councillors yesterday that the proposed height of buildings in the development needed serious consideration as did issues in relation to children's play areas and the distance of the buildings from the public road. However, he said in terms of design it was "almost an ideal mixed-use scheme".
Labour councillor Dermot Lacey said he did not believe Mr Dunne intended to build the 37-storey tower, but was using it to disguise the fact that there were 17-storey buildings in the scheme. "Whatever about the architectural merits of the 37-storey building the 17-storey one has no merit whatsoever, it's just a box," Mr Lacey said.
Fine Gael councillor Paddy McCartan said he was concerned that if the scheme was granted permission other developers would try to "piggyback" on the precedent to secure permission for high-rise buildings in the area.
Sinn Féin councillor Daithí Doolan said Mr Dunne had "stepped over the line" in offering €31 million to the local community "as some sort of bribe".
Mr Dunne must not be given "wriggle room" in relation to the zoning, Labour councillor Kevin Humphreys said.
"We need to lay down a clear marker to the officials that they must make decisions based on the development plan devised by the elected councillors," he said.
