Krimotat v Kogarah City Council [2010] NSWLEC 1112

Land and Environment Court of New South Wales

CITATION : Krimotat v Kogarah City Council [2010] NSWLEC 1112

APPLICANT Felix Krimotat PARTIES : RESPONDENT Kogarah City Council

FILE NUMBER(S) : 10935 of 2009

CORAM: Murrell C

KEY ISSUES: DEVELOPMENT APPLICATION :- Car Wash,

Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 LEGISLATION CITED: State Environment Planning Policy No. 64 Kogarah Local Environmental Plan 1998

CASES CITED: Stockland Development Pty Ltd v Manly Council [2004] NSWLEC 472 BGP Properties v Lake Macquarie City Council (2004) NSWLEC 399.

DATES OF HEARING: 7 April 2010 and 19 April 2010

EX TEMPORE JUDGMENT DATE : 19 April 2010

APPLICANT Mr Sahade, barrister SOLICITORS Trust Chambers LEGAL REPRESENTATIVES:

RESPONDENT Mr A Seton, solicitor SOLICITOR Marsdens Law Group

JUDGMENT:

THE LAND AND ENVIRONMENT COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Murrell C

19 April 2010

10935 of 2009 Felix Krimotat v Kogarah City Council This determination was given extemporaneously and has been edited prior to publication

JUDGMENT 1 COMMISSIONER: This is an appeal under s 97 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act, 1979 against Kogarah Council's refusal of a development application for the property known as 1010 King Georges Road, Blakehurst. The subject site is triangular with a site frontage to Princes Highway of some 45 metres and 60 metres to King Georges Road. This yields a site area of nearly 1600 square metres. This intersection or Y section is on major road within the Sydney metropolitan area. 2 Currently on the subject site, there is an unauthorised car rental business operating and an approved car wash and café with associated office. The proposal is for the hours of operations for the car wash and café to be extended from 7am to 7pm. Currently, there are slightly shorter hours. The hours are not contested by the council. 3 The Court notes the existing structures on the site and can only grant prospective consent for the use of these structures on the site. The site also has a number of unauthorised advertising signs including 'Thrifty Car Rental', one on each façade of the building, and the words 'Thrifty Car Wash' contained within the main pylon signs. These pylon signs to identify the car wash were previously approved. 4 The applicant seeks approval for the use of the premises for a car rental and for the allocation of some eight car parking spaces, four within the basement and four at grade on the site, for the purposes of the car rental business. The car rental business is shown on the plans to be five square metres for the rental desk. 5 The applicant is seeking to have a total of eight staff car parking spaces as shown in the amended plan, exhibit E, which is near the King Georges Road side of the subject site. The four spaces for the rental cars is near the Princes Highway and there is also provided on the amended plan two customer parking spaces, to be for the café. 6 The other part of the development application is for a billboard of some 42 square metres, near the King Georges Road on the northern boundary of the subject site. 7 The Court heard from resident objectors onsite and their concerns. I noted their concerns for the record on returning to Court on the first day of the proceedings. In summary their concerns relate to the fact that the car rental business has caused traffic congestion in the street and has impacted on their residential amenity. In particular, because of the use of a car loader from time to time in the street and the parking of hire vehicles and the parking of staff vehicles, that is the car wash staff for the facility. 8 The objectors referred to the current development consent for the site that requires the parking under the building to be for the purposes of a staff car