Work has apparently stopped on a Wickhams Cay I construction project, after Town and Country Planning officials sent a compliance notice and stop-work order to property owner Patsy Lake, saying she added “extra floors to an approved three floors commercial building without development permission.”
In 2009, Ms. Lake successfully applied for planning permission to build a 30-foot-tall “commercial addition” to the Nibbs Street building that houses the Simply Delicious restaurant.
In May, she submitted a new application, seeking permission to make the building 74 feet tall and “add three additional floors atop recently approved plans.” On June 29, planning officials denied the application.
In a letter to Ms. Lake dated July 11, they listed several problems with the proposal: It did not meet minimum parking requirements; it exceeded “the maximum allowable building height for the area;” it exceeded density limits; it “would be visually intrusive and negatively impact on the amenities of the area;” and it would “have a detrimental impact on traffic flow and road safety, due to the development and the lack of parking spaces.”
Ms. Lake then submitted another application, dated July 29, identical to the rejected application except that it indicated that 15 parking spaces would be “dedicated on [an adjacent] lot to the proposed structure.” Planning officials have yet to rule on that application.
On Sept. 1, they issued the compliance notice and stop order, after apparent framework for additional floors was built on the site. Work appears to have stopped on the project since the order was issued.
See the Sept. 22, 2011 edition for full coverage.