Skyline Enterprises Ltd has applied for a direct referral to the Environment Court for its proposed multilevel car park.
The car park, with a capacity for at least 350 vehicles at Brecon St, is a key aspect of the company's plans to upgrade and future-proof its gondola, and upper and lower terminals in Queenstown.
Consent for the latter, $10million-plus redevelopment, was directly referred to the Environment Court in October 2016.
At the end of a hearing last May, Judge John Hassan said it was unlikely consent would be granted unless issues concerning car parking and stormwater could be resolved. He gave Skyline several options, including applying for direct referral for the park-ing building consent.
That application was made by counsel Graeme Todd on behalf of Skyline last month.
Mr Todd said subject to that being approved, the Environment Court had indicated it could hear the car park application in June, after which a final decision could be issued on both matters.
In his request to the Queenstown Lakes District Council for the direct referral, Mr Todd submitted it was in the best interests of all parties, including the council and general public, for the application to be determined as soon as possible and, to minimise the cost to parties, have the matter directly referred.
If the council heard the matter and declined consent, it was likely Skyline would appeal it to the Environment Court.
If it was granted by the council, it might be appealed by another party, Mr Todd's application said.
''The application has been publicly notified and a number of submissions have been filed, including a submission in opposition by ... Ziptrek.
''Ziptrek have a history of opposing developments by Skyline and of appealing decisions granting consent in favour of Skyline.
''Given such, it is likely if the application was granted by the council, Ziptrek would appeal the decision to the Environment Court.''
The company had also applied to the council for a lease and easements for the proposed car park under the Reserves Act 1977.
That will be decided by the council at its full meeting in Queenstown today.
The new lease area was about 8532sq m and incorporated a portion of the gondola cableway easement to provide for a future one-way access to the proposed building.
The recommendation before the council is to approve the lease for an initial term of five years to align with Skyline's existing gondola lease, which will expire on March 31, 2020, and be renewable every five years thereafter.
Conditions of the lease agreement included Skyline obtaining consent for the car park by September 1, 2019, beginning construction by December 1, 2020, and completing the development by December 1, 2023.
Even if the final decisions were appealed to the High Court, Mr Todd said all timeframes were realistic.
