Contentious plans for a 41-unit apartment scheme for the Frascati Centre in Blackrock, Dublin, have been stalled.
Three separate appeals have been lodged by south Dublin residents with An Bord Pleanála against the decision by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council to grant planning permission for the scheme by IMRF II Frascati Ltd Partnership.
The 41-unit scheme is the second phase of the overall development plan. Proposals for another 98 apartments at the Frascati site are also being opposed by locals and a decision is due on that application later in the year.
The 41-unit scheme comprises 15 studios, 18 one-bed units and eight two-bed units in a U-shaped residential block, arranged around a central communal courtyard space.
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council last month determined that the proposal “would not significantly detract from the amenities of the area”.
However, in a hard-hitting appeal, Dr William Killeen of the Frascati Park Residents Association said: "Our resident members feel that any investment made in our houses – historic or future – runs the risk of serious monetary impairment if the scheme is approved."
He said a marginal reduction in scale from a previous proposal for the site did not “significantly mitigate the overbearance, height, massing and scale of the development”.
“Nor does it mitigate the loss of sunlight/daylight for some properties on Frascati Park and Lisalea.”
He said there were not sufficient grounds or mitigation “for a sustained material contravention of height restrictions so close to neighbouring properties”.
“These factors continue to translate into serious injury to residential amenity and would lead to a depreciation in the value of homes in Frascati Park and likely those in Lisalea,” Dr Killeen said.
He contends that the design of the scheme before the board “dwarfs neighbouring residential zones”.
A decision is due on the appeal in August.
