Johnny Ronan refused permission for ‘overbearing’ Appian Way plan

Dublin City Council has refused developer Johnny Ronan planning permission for a 10-storey-over-basement, 44-unit scheme of build-to-rent apartments on Appian Way in Dublin 4.

The council said the scheme’s excessive height, scale and density on a small, visually prominent site would constitute overdevelopment. It found RGRE and J&R Valery’s Ltd’s plan for the site at the junction of Leeson Street Upper and Appian Way would have an unreasonably overbearing, visually dominant effect on adjoining sites.

The authority also concluded that the proposed scheme, “with its unjustifiable height and density, fails to integrate or be compatible with the streetscape along both Appian Way and Leeson Street Upper”. It said the development would “seriously injure the visual amenities of the streetscape and would have an adverse impact on the character of the area”.

The council pointed to the precedent approval would set for other developments.

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Car parking

It said the development is located on a heavily trafficked road which is a Quality Bus Corridor and planned Bus Connects route and in an area where there is limited on-street car parking. It noted that no car parking provision within the site is proposed and as a result the development would generate overspill parking, drop-offs and servicing activity onto the adjacent Leeson Street Upper and footpaths, thereby causing an obstruction to pedestrians, cyclists, bus services and other road users, resulting in a traffic safety hazard.

The Upper Leeson Street Area Residents’ Association had objected to the plan, which included 29 studio apartments and 15 one-bed apartments.

The association was one of 12 parties to the object to the scheme.

Planning consultants for the applicants, John Spain & Associates, argued that the proposal would provide “a quality build-to-rent residential development in an existing urban area adjoining high-quality public transport”.