$4m development 'too much' for Ballina: locals

THE proposed six-storey building would exceed the town's height limit.

ARTIST'S IMPRESSION; An artist's impression of the proposed six-storey building. Picture: Contributed

A PROPOSED six-storey residential development in Ballina's CBD, which exceeds the height limit, is "too much, too soon" according to one business owner.

Peter Jacobsen has an office in the building he owns located next door to the site for the proposed $4.2m development at 8 Grant St.

If approved, the new building would be the first residential complex of its height in the CBD not located by the Richmond River.

While Mr Jacobsen, a developer who concentrates mainly on commercial properties, said he has "empathy" for those behind the proposal, he said the development was "out of character" with the buildings around it.

HIGH-RISE PROPOSAL; The site of a proposed six-story residential development in Grant St, Ballina. Picture: Graham Broadhead

The proposed height of the 14-unit residential apartment block, replacing a two-storey apartment building, would be 1.3m over the 18m limit for the CBD, with the building's lift over-run the highest point.

Ballina firm Ardill Payne and Partners, which has lodged the development application on behalf of their client, Jeff Norton, argue there are other buildings in the CBD which have exceeded the height limit by a similar amount.

But Mr Jacobsen claimed "there is no other building like it within eye shot" of the Grant St site.

"Ballina's not up to that -- it doesn't fit," he said.

"I'm not trying to stop development, but we can't be running when we're still crawling."

He said the proposed six-storey building would be better reduced to a four-storey one.

He said the reduced bulk would lessen the visual impact of the building, as the current proposal would mean an 18m wall facing the river and Mr Jacobsen's property.

He also said the reduced number of units would lessen the impact of cars parking in the street.

He said the development is an area zoned for commercial use, but the developers use an argument of "existing use" as the current residential property was approved in 1963.

Submissions on the proposal close with Ballina Shire Council on March 28.

Meanwhile, it was announced last Friday that work will start on the $34m six-storey Reside Living development on the corner of River and Kerr streets, just a block away from the Grant St site.