SHA developers seek more time

It could be 10 years before the Arrowtown Lifestyle Retirement Village (ALRV) Special Housing Area is fully constructed and operational and six before all 88 units in the Arthurs Point Rd development are built.

Resource consent applications for those two SHAs, and Shotover Country's 101 residential lots, have been lodged with the Queenstown Lakes District Council.

The retirement village's proposal - a 50-50 joint venture between landowners the Monk family and the Anderson and Armstrong families - is out for limited public notification and submissions close on October 3.

Under that process, only those served with the application are permitted to make a formal submission.

Riverton Queenstown Ltd, the company behind the Arthurs Point Rd SHA, is seeking for its application to be granted non-notified.

However, all three applicants have sought an extension of the default one-year lapse period from the date of consent under the Housing Accord and Special Housing Areas Act.

It is understood the landowner has the responsibility of proving whatever actions they take on their sites before the lapse date were sufficient to give effect to the consent. However, the council has the discretion to decide whether or not those actions are adequate.

In its application, ALRV said it proposed a seven-stage development and sought a 10-year lapse period.

If consent was granted, construction of 27 of the proposed 120 two to three-bedroom single-level villas and a temporary community centre would ''commence immediately''.

Under stage two, a further 14 villas would be delivered, and stage three aimed to deliver 32 villas and the permanent community facilities building.

Twenty-nine villas were planned for the fourth stage, 75 apartments for stage five, the 100-bed aged care facility in stage six and a final 17 villas in stage seven.

The staging would allow the ''logical and efficient progression of development across the site'' and was similar to the Aspiring Lifestyle Village in Wanaka, recently developed by the Anderson and Armstrong families.

The decade-long lapse period was sought because of ''the unique circumstance and time required to construct a retirement village, where it involves both land development and construction of buildings''.

Riverton Queenstown's application says it would ''not be possible'' to meet the default one-year lapse period, and it seeks a six-year lapse from the date of consent, for its staged development on Arthurs Point Rd.

It proposed to construct 14 units within 18 months of the date of consent and another 12 within the first three years.

A 34-unit block would be constructed four and a-half years after consent was granted and the final two blocks completed within six years.

''The reason behind these stages and corresponding lapse periods are that it enables the site to be developed sequentially, in logical development blocks,'' its application said.

''The timeframes are on the conservative side and it is likely that development could be executed earlier,'' the application said.

Shotover Country's application sought for a five-year lapse date because the proposal included a land use component for building development and subdivision.

''It is considered that it could take one year to construct the subdivision and, therefore, an extended period of time is sought in relation to both the subdivision component of the consent and the land use component.''

Bridesdale Farm, the only SHA which has, to date, been consented, had sought a 10-year lapse in respect of individual lot land use consents.

Ultimately commissioners found a five-year period was ''the most appropriate'' and gave the developer a two-year lapse in respect of subdivision and associated earthworks land use consent.

Bridesdale Cottage, however, was given a 10-year lapse in respect of using it as a cafe.

tracey.roxburgh@odt.co.nz