A three storey mixed development proposed for residentially zoned Farm Street in Mount Maunganui has been opposed at a hearing today by 41 objectors concerned at the impact the development will have on their neighbourhood.

While the objectors claim the development by Farm Street Developments Ltd breaches all the city council bylaws, it is supported by Tauranga City Council planning staff.

The council's senior environment planner Stacey Hikairo says the development will be consistent with the objectives and policies of the city plan, even though the proposed building doesn't comply with height, overshadowing, coverage and side and rear year setback requirements of the Residential Zone.

The neigbouring Farm Street Family Health Centre says the density of the proposed development is one residential unit per 101m2 which far exceeds the Operative Tauranga City Plan maximum permitted residential density of one unit per 325m2.

In addition to the eight residential units there is proposed to be a commercial business operating from the single 812sqm suburban residential section. This represents an excessive overdevelopment of the subject site and will create unacceptable adverse environmental effects on neighbouring properties and the surrounding locality, says the health centre's consultant Russel De Luca.

He says the development is a combination of very intensive residential living combined with a business activity which is not consistent with the Tauranga City Plan, and that it will undermine the integrity of the Plan by allowing an intensive out of zone development. If granted it will set an undesirable planning precedent for the area and throughout the wider Suburban Residential Zone.

The City Plan permitted height limit is 9m, says Russell's submission. The proposal will be mostly 10m and up to 12m high.

'Visually, the adverse effects of this will be a very large and intrusive building completely out of character with the existing neighbourhood.

The City Plan permits 45 per cent coverage of net site area. The proposed development will have a site coverage exceeding 80 per cent.

'This is a huge building almost completely occupying a single suburban site, creating a significant impact on neighbouring properties and surrounding community.”

Objectors are concerned that if approved in its current form the development will create pressure to approve other non-complying developments in the future, with ‘cascading' community effects, say objectors Dean and Caz Muller.

They say the design appears to breach all of the city bylaws. The propsoed building breaches set back distances from boundaries, it is built over existing sewer lines, and over height and overhsadowing rules are breached, say the Mullers.

Traffic effects on Farm St are more than minor, storm water collection and containement are not addressed. The building covers more than 80 per cent of the site and the unit size of 60m2 is very small.

Farm Street is zoned residential.