The current maximum height in the town centre is 12m — three to four storeys high.
However, the Queenstown Lakes District Council has proposed to double that in response to a central government directive to provide more height and density in certain locations.
The higher height would apply across a swathe of the CBD fronting upper Shotover St, lower Man St, Memorial St, Stanley St and Henry St.
Investor Tony Butson said a 24m height limit would equate to six to eight storeys.
"The trouble in allowing that height in the CBD is it’s not human scale.
"One of the prime advantages of the town centre is all the buildings are human scale — there’s nothing over four storeys."
"Why I think it’s so popular is because it’s all a walking town that also has some vehicle access and you’re not dwarfed by tall buildings."
The 12m height limit "doesn’t stop the sun from coming in".
Mr Butson said any increase in height limits should apply to land up against the hillside, such as where the Lakeview development was going.
"There’s plenty of land for high-rise buildings up by the hill, and to bring it right down in town — I think it’s unnecessary."
In proposing the variation, the council was responding to Policy 5 of the National Policy Statement for Urban Development, which "directs councils to enable more height and density in certain locations".
Local planner John Edmonds said the council had "made a good effort at responding to a direction it’s been given by government."
But he accepted the new 24m height limit was "a pretty dramatic change from what we have now".
"The general reaction I’ve had from people is they didn’t realise it was so significant."
However, he noted, "as you get taller, you have to set the building back further", and for small sites in the affected area, "you wouldn’t get anywhere near 24m".
"There are matters of discretion in there, so as the council allows people to go higher, they do have considerations around shading, privacy, wind tunnel effects, those kind of things.
"I think the interesting thing will be to see how the landowners respond and how many of those opportunities are taken up."
The council advertised for submissions on February 20. Parties had until Tuesday to lodge an appeal.
As of Wednesday morning, two parties appealing this aspect of the variation were Carter Group, which owns the Crowne Plaza hotel and surrounding land, and Well Smart, which owns several sites in or near the town centre.
Carter Group wants to amend the variation so the 24m height limit applies to all CBD-surrounding land affected by plan change 50, or at the very least its own land.
Mr Edmonds said the council "chose not to include what’s known as PC50 [land] — they’re suggesting they may do that as a separate process soon".
QLDC planning and development general manager David Wallace said the variation, "and intensification generally", enabled infrastructure to service developments in a more efficient and affordable manner.
"Enabling density in appropriate locations as opposed to urban sprawl helps to reduce the need for people to travel, sometimes over long distances to reach their destination of choice, and it can have a significant impact on the overarching wellbeing of our community."
