A resource consent application to construct a non-complying three-storey residential building near Wanaka's town centre has been refused.
Varina Property Ltd wanted to build a three-unit apartment behind the former Wanaka Medical Centre in the middle of a triangular residential block bound by Russell and Chalmers Sts and Stratford Tce.
The proposed building breached the district plan's maximum building height, maximum building footprint and standards for earthworks.
The application was notified on a limited basis to surrounding neighbours and attracted two submissions, including one from neighbours Denis and Olwyn Pezaro, who opposed the application, raising issues of privacy and potential adverse effects on the stability of a swimming pool and retaining wall on their property.
At a hearing in June, Lakes Environmental planner Paula Costello recommended the consent application be granted as the adverse effects of the activity would be minor.
Independent commissioners Denis Nugent and Christine Kelly adjourned the hearing and requested additional information relating to landscaping and the relationship of the building and earthworks to the location of the Pezaros' swimming pool, along with some draft conditions should consent be granted.
The application was subsequently turned down because the breaches of height, building footprint and building coverage standards, combined with inadequacies in landscaping, made the building too big for the site.
" . . . a smaller building having greater respect to adjoining properties would be more appropriate", the commissioners' decision said.
Paterson Pitts planner Duncan White, representing Varina Property Ltd, said he was discussing with Australia-based Varina director Duffy Crook what further action might be taken.
