The developer behind a new, multi-storey motel to be built in central Byron Bay has applied to further increase the height of the building, despite having already been allowed to exceed the maximum height limit for that part of town.
The owners of 33 Lawson Street already have permission to build a three-storey, 46-room hotel with two levels of basement parking.
That proposal involved an 11 per cent exceedance of height limits, drawing the ire of neighbours and those who oppose the creeping height increases taking place across the Byron CBD.
Now the same owners have applied to build a rooftop bar, pool, and bathroom, which would see the building’s height blow out to 12.5 metres – a 38 per cent exceedance of the 9m limit.
The modification application will come before this week’s Council planning meeting.
The application has brought five strongly-worded letters of objection from neighbours, including one couple who bought a unit next door with an eye to retiring there, and now fear a significant loss of amenity.
But the developer argues that despite significantly exceeding the height limit, the additions will make little difference to the overall visual impact of the building.
This argument has been accepted by Council staff.
They wrote, ‘A variation to the height provisions is supported in this instance as the staircase, lift and amenities on the rooftop generate minimal visual impacts, do not generate significant privacy or overlooking issues, or noticeably change the bulk and scale of the approved building…’
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