Plan for houses behind Glencairn Hotel

The City is considering an application to subdivide land for residential plots behind the historic Glencairn Hotel and along one of the far south’s most scenic drives.

The application by land surveyor Duncan Bates seeks rezoning of the property from general business 2 (GB2) and limited zone use (LU) to 11 single residential 1 (SR1) portions with two business portions (GB2) and one private road (SR1).

The LU zone is a transitional mechanism to deal with land that was zoned as undetermined in previous zoning schemes, while the primary uses for GB2 is a place of business such as a hotel, place of worship, place of entertainment and a conference facility among others.

The primary use for SR1 is a dwelling (house) with additional-use rights for a bed and breakfast and a creche, among others.

The application claims the proposed development will retain the existing heritage resources of significance, specifically the hotel, which has existed for more than a 100 years.

It is currently owned by Tintswalo Property Group. The two proposed business units are along the row of shops already established in Glen Road, and the 11 proposed residential plots are on the upper slopes of the site above the hotel.

The application states that while the proposed development will have some visual impact when viewed from the Main Road, the visual impact will be far less than a previous land-use application by the former owners, which was approved by the City in 2010 and extended in 2015.

The application says the homes that will eventually be built will not break the skyline of the Glencairn mountain, and the streetscape along Glen Road will remain largely unchanged. However, Gardrum Hill Steps, on the northwest, will have some changes to accommodate the proposed access road, Cairn Terrace.

The residential plots will obtain access off Gardrum Hill Steps to the proposed private road (Cairn Terrace) which will set back from the Gardrum Steps street boundary, to accommodate vehicle stacking. There will be adequate provision at the end of Cairn Terrace to allow for vehicles to turn, according to the application.

No parking departures are required, according to the application, as there is sufficient parking available on Erf 140, a public road and Erf 235, which belongs to the hotel. This includes the 38 required off-street parking bays for the hotel and restaurant.

Chief development officer for the Tintswalo Group Warwick Goosen said the group only recently became the sole shareholders of the property and it wanted to improve the state of the current buildings while maintaining the south peninsula look and feel.

There was no intention to create more retail or commercial space and the rezoning of two units to GB2 in the application simply referred to the current strip of shops being the one erf and the hotel and restaurant on the other erf, he said.

The residential plots they wanted to establish above the hotel would be available to potential buyers who wanted to build homes in line with the City’s planning guidelines, he said.

Mayoral committee member for spatial planning and environment Marian Nieuwoudt said the application was still be advertised. The deadline for public comment is Wednesday July 21.

“The City will thereafter consider all of the comments received during the public participation process before a final recommendation is made,” she said.