A ban on sex shops in residential areas, restrictions on superpubs and a commitment to build more playgrounds are among the proposals in the amended draft development plan for Dublin, which has gone on public display.
More than 50 rezonings proposed by the planners have been reversed or otherwise changed in the draft plan, which is the result of several months deliberations by Dublin county councillors.
In addition, several hundred buildings which were to have been deleted from the list of protected structures will now remain on the list, following the intervention of councillors. However, in many cases, only the exteriors will be protected.
Labour councillor Ms Emer Costello, who proposed the ban on sex shops near residential areas, acknowledged that national planning regulations would have to be changed before it could take effect.
Ms Costello said that after two sex shops opened near the church in Phibsboro, local residents expressed concern that the area could become a "strip" for such activity. "I find it absurd that the council can regulate 24-hour outlets but not adult shops. We're not just talking about soft porn here," she said.
However, Fine Gael councillor Dr Bill Tormey said the proposal was "ridiculous".
"For years this country was run by the church, and now people are still proposing to interfere in what adults do."
The amended plan proposes to discourage the development of superpubs in order to respect the needs of local residents and create a "mixed-use vibrant community".
Restrictions will also be imposed on pubs where an area already has a concentration of of this type of retail outlet.
Thirty new playgrounds are to be created in the city during the lifetime of the plan "subject to available funding".
The plan commits the council to encouraging city-centre venues for the arts and, in particular, "to seek to achieve the siting of the Abbey Theatre on O'Connell Street".
It requires Dublin City Council to identify areas around the city where circuses and carnivals can perform annually.
No 16 Moore Street, which has links to the 1916 Rising, should be converted into a museum run by the council, according to another policy agreed by councillors.
Councillors are set for a collision course with the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, on Mountjoy Prison.
The Minister wants to sell the site for redevelopment and move the prison elsewhere, but the plan proposes an assessment of the buildings to see which elements should be listed for protection.
The amended plan commits the council to the repair of derelict or boarded-up local authority housing within a target time of three months.
It also retains a commitment to allowing higher buildings in the city, but drops a specific proposal to "consider" such buildings in the Docklands, Broadstone, Heuston Station and Parkwest. Councillors added a new policy which promises to "protect" the skyline of the inner city.
Written submissions or observations on the proposed amendments to the draft development plan must be made to Dublin City Council by the deadline on November 10th.
