PLANS to build a four-storey apartment building alongside the Mentone Hotel building have been shelved in favour of a two-storey complex.
Developer Paul Huggins, of Momentum Developments, lodged a new planning application with Kingston Council last month reducing the number of units in an apartment development to 13.
Mr Huggins initially applied in 2015 to build 45 apartments at the site but council voted in March to limit any complex to two storeys in line with existing height restrictions along Beach Rd.
The number of townhouses in the main hotel building will rise from 12 to 16 under the new planning proposal.
The hotel’s exterior and the main internal staircase are heritage listed.
Plans to include a food and drinks establishment in the lower level of the lower floor of the Mentone Hotel building have been dropped as part of the scaled-back development.
Kingston Council advised a meeting between the developer and objectors to the latest planning application will be held next month and councillors will likely vote on the two-storey development proposal before the end of the year.
“Formal advertising of the application commenced on 19 September,” council planning and general development general manager Jonathan Guttmann said.
“Public notice included four signs erected at the site and information on council’s website.”
Submissions can be received by council until a formal decision on the planning application is made.
Mr Guttman said 43 objections have been received to date and concerns include impact on existing neighbourhood character, overdevelopment, increased traffic and “a loss of a significant venue to the community”.
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 25 October 2017
