KEY POINTS:
Developer Rick Martin wants to build a second mid-rise apartment block in Orewa, saying it is inevitable there will be higher-density living at one of the country's better beaches, only half an hour from central Auckland.
His Cornerstone Group is seeking resource consent for a 31.5m high complex - across the Hibiscus Coast Highway from the beach.
The company built the 42.5m Nautilus, which it argues sets the precedent for an appropriate height and scale of development in Orewa.
Planning commissioners yesterday finished hearing the application and reserved their decision. The proposal drew 250 submissions, 249 of which were opposed, including a form objection circulated by the Orewa Residents and Ratepayers Association and signed by 212 people.
Company planning manager Tim Sinclair said Orewa was tired and in the last decade had had little investment in its redevelopment, apart from the Nautilus
"Without investment, Orewa will continue to fall behind as a retail centre and will continue to have its sub-regional function degraded by competing centres."
For the company, urban designer Barry Rae said that from the beach the nine-storey building, with shops, 73 apartments and 187 covered carparks, would appear as three or four storeys above buildings in the foreground.
"As such, and given the long expanse of the beach front, the appearance of the proposed development from the beach will not be dominating."
Mr Rae said the development would enhance views of Orewa because it would reduce the dominance of the Nautilus, which breaks the skyline and appears out of context.
He said shading of part of the open space reserve opposite - on the sea side of the road - would occur after 4pm in mid-winter.
However, the proposal complied with height-to-boundary controls.
A witness for the applicant, Shane Hartley of Terra Nova Planning, said the building, with its two apartment towers, would in time be only one of a larger number of similar developments.
There were pressures in core locations to have significantly more dwellings per hectare than would be achieved in the more typical townhouse or multi-unit developments elsewhere on the Hibiscus Coast.
Rodney District Council urban designer Andrew Trevelyan said he assessed the structure, including a podium and two towers, as being of a pleasant design and appearance and "eminently suitable" in that location.
However, a council planning consultant advised that the application should be refused consent because it created more than minor adverse effects on the environment.
Landowner Des Adams expressed concerns about effects on traffic flows and parking. The building sloping away from the highway signalled what Orewa would look like once through-traffic was using the Orewa-Puhoi section of the motorway.
The residents' association said most residents did not want high-rise buildings and were concerned about shading effects.
