minutes - City of Stirling

MINUTES OF THE ORDINARY MEETING OF COUNCIL
18 SEPTEMBER 2012
Comment
The applicant’s submission makes reference to a recent approval (DA12/0546) on the
adjoining lot at House Number 235, Balcatta Road, Balcatta. The City has issued an
approval for an office on the adjoining site however the circumstances relating to the
adjoining lot differ to the position of the applicant for the subject property, for the following
reasons:-
The adjoining site is single storey therefore providing no opportunity to allocate office
uses on an upper floor whereas the subject site is two (2) storey thus enabling office
uses to be located on an upper floor;
Office occupies approximately 50% of the adjoining site (House Number 235) and
does not constitute the predominant use. The subject proposal involves 67% of the
gross floor area on site being office (including upper floor) with 71% of ground floor
tenancies facing the street (Balcatta Road) as office space; and
The adjoining site (House Number 235) maintains a mix of uses other than office that
attract customers to the site. The proposed development (House Number 231) would
result in 71% office and 29% showroom uses at ground level.
The City’s Mixed Business Design Guidelines contain the following provisions in relation to
land uses on site:-
Showroom and other active commercial uses shall be located on the ground floor level;
and
Office and other non-active uses shall be located on upper levels.
The requirements are clear and explicit yet the proposal directly contravenes the intended
land use function for the Mixed Business Zone (with the exception of two (2) ground floor
showroom tenancies). The applicant has argued that the current individual tenancies are not
suitable for any uses that are approvable within the Mixed Business Zone other than office.
The stated reasons for the properties unsuitability include commercial leasing prospects,
tenancy size and the inability for the site to accommodate uses that require more intensive
parking requirements. The City’s view is that parking is considered to be the only valid
planning consideration raised – however the City would assess the car parking requirements
and provision for any development proposal involving a commercial development on its
merit. The suggestion that insufficient parking would be available is not considered sufficient
justification for departing from the requirements of the Mixed Business Design Guidelines in
this instance. The proposed use of office encompasses a wide range of potential business
types, and it is difficult to ensure that the uses on site would be “active commercial uses”. By
virtue of its wording “Office and other non-active uses shall be located on upper levels” the
City’s Mixed Business Design Guidelines imply that office is generally a non-active use.
It has been stated that the proposed office uses are consistent with other approved business
types along Balcatta Road. A search of the City’s records has not been undertaken in
relation to what land uses have been approved by the City along Balcatta Road, though it is
acknowledged that different land uses exits in this area. Irrespective of what land uses may
or may not have been approved in the area, the City amended its District Planning Scheme
No.2 (DPS2) in 2008 to create the Mixed Business Zone which consists of lots fronting the
major traffic routes Erindale Road and Balcatta Road. These lots were previously zoned
Special Garden Industrial under DPS2. The development application is required to be
assessed in relation to the current statutory framework.
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