Scheme ‘deficient’

Press, 15 June 1979, Page 4

Scheme ‘deficient’

The Christchurch City Council’s district scheme was deficient in that it made no provision for licensed restaurants in any zone, the Town Planning Tribunal was told yesterday. A proposal to open a licensed restaurant on the f round floor of a building at Latimer Square was a true specified departure, said Mr A. Hearn, who appeared for T. and P. B.Losco, former

proprietors of the La Dolce Vita Restaurant.

The Loscos had sought, and were granted, specified departure approval to open a restaurant in the building, which they own and which is now used as a child health clinic. However, the Canterbury Regional Planning Authority has appealed against the approval. The Loscos want io live on the top floor of the

building and open a kitchen and restaurant for 55 patrons on the ground floor, from 6 p.m. to 11.30 p.m. Monday to Saturday. In evidence the respondents said that only-soft taped music would be played, and dancing would not be permitted. Mr D. M. Palmer, for the Christchurch City Council, said that the relevant district scheme was 11 years old and had been overtaken by legislation and events.

The Regional Planning Authority said that the restaurant would attract many visitors, in conflict with the aims of the regional scheme, but Mr Palmer said that under the authority’s own definitions, the proposed restaurant was acceptable because its hours of opening were outside peak traffic times.

The Christchurch City Planner (Mr W. T. Williams) said that the Loscos had “hopped over into a residen-

tial zone” where property values were cheaper. Latimer Square was the residentialcommercial boundary, he said. Parking was more difficult towards the central city, and he doubted whether street parking would be available at dining times.

A traffic engineering specialist, Mr P. T. McCombs, said that the restaurant would have a “relatively trivial” effect on traffic because of its modest scale, and hours of opening. It was desirable to have 18 or 20 on-site parking spaces but this would detract from a gracious setting. Ample street parking was available within 150 m of the building, and the courtyard had nine spaces, Mr McCombs said.