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A marina owner has put to the Environment Court a case to build apartments on land reclaimed from Waitemata Harbour.
Bayswater Marina wants restrictions on residential building scrapped in favour of a comprehensive development plan that would permit 250 units up to the height of the sea cliffs off Sir Peter Blake Parade.
It is fighting restrictions proposed by the North Shore City Council in a zoning change for the 3.4ha reclaimed when the marina was built in the 1990s.
In 2006, Auckland property investor Simon Herbert bought the 430-berth marina from the estate of Martin Jones.
Mr Jones' vision for the area was for a marina village, including a boutique hotel.
The company has a 105-year lease on the Crown-owned land, which allows public access rights to the coast.
Lawyer Richard Brabant said the council's rezoning move cut across a legitimate property interest and severely constrained any reasonable use of the land.
He said it was inappropriate to apply a restrictive zoning for public open space and recreation without consent of the landowner.
The marina company sought a comprehensive development plan - a planning tool adopted for guiding future use of Chelsea Sugar Refinery and the Albany Stadium area.
The firm said this would maintain and enhance public access to the coast, allow a park in the southern part of the land and continued ferry and bus use.
It would also permit restaurants, cafes, shops, offices and a maximum of 250 residential units.
Projects would still require resource consent.
The council decided six years ago that the area should focus on public use - for enjoyment, boating activities and catching a ferry across the harbour to Auckland.
For the council, lawyer Padraig McNamara said residential accommodation should have a non-complying rather than a permitted activity status.
This would discourage large-scale residential development in order to protect the recreational, open space and amenity values of the zone.
Development proposals would be examined in light of how they fitted the values of the site.
Opponents of the company's bid include the Ngataringa Bay Society, Takapuna Boating Club, Bayswater Community Committee and Auckland Regional Council.
Environment Court judge Jeff Smith said a decision could be expected within three months.
