Did you know that a nine-storey boarding house development would soon rise on Pittwater Road? The approved plans include a retail shop and three commercial tenancies but no car parking space will be provided on-site.
Approved in early June 2022, the planned $4.3-million mixed development is located at 882A Pittwater Rd, Dee Why. The nine-storey building will contain 19 boarding rooms (including three accessible rooms), a cafe, three commercial suites (one each on the ground, first and second floor), a communal living room and a manager’s room/ office. The development will not provide any car parking spaces.
The development application, however, attracted 29 submissions during its public exhibition with several concerns raised including the lack of car parking. According to the assessment report, the proposed site has been “isolated” by all the developments around it, making the project difficult to develop in a conventional way, such as providing basement car parking.
It did note, however, that the proposed “car-free” development includes a provision of cycling parking and “excellent public transport connectivity.”
On concerns regarding the loss of view and intrusion of privacy, the report said that “assessment has found the proposal to have an acceptable impact, considering the context which is that of a dense town centre environment, subject to conditions to address amenity issues,” and thus does not warrant the refusal of the application.
The assessment report added that the use of the proposed building as a boarding house is allowed under the WLEP 2011 and that “it would be ultra vires for Council” to refuse the application based on the land use alone.