Five-storey building will mar Santa Lucija’s low-lying streetscapes

A green field in Santa Luċija, zoned for two five-storey blocks in 2020, faces the prospect of having 48 apartments built on part of it.

Building plans submitted by developer Anton Camilleri, who owns part of the open space, are being opposed by the local council and other objectors.

Objections concern the five-storey height of the proposed development, even though zoning happened two years ago, and the density of the project.

Objectors are saying that in the same year that the PA zoned the field for five-storey blocks, the same authority had turned down a much smaller development a mere 100m away for a five-storey building.

The landmark decision by the PA to reject the relatively small development effectively set a precedent against the erection of five-storey buildings in Santa Lucija.

In its decision back then, the Planning Commission had concluded that the height of the development was in breach of the Development Control Design Policy of 2015, which requires that the impact of development on the skyline be taken into consideration in the assessment of development applications.

It was also deemed to be in breach of another policy which states that wherever “a uniform design prevails and it may be established that a number of important streetscape parameters exist, the emphasis will be on respecting such parameters”.

Moreover, the proposed five-storey apartment building was deemed not to respect the character of the area in which it is located, consisting of a “comprehensive housing estate characterised by terraced houses with a predominant two-storey building height, and which is also of low density facing ODZ”. The proposal was also deemed to be in breach of the Strategic Plan for Environment and Development which refers to the protection of the character, amenity and distinctiveness of urban areas.

But the Planning Authority is now considering a full development application of 48 apartments in the locality.

Objectors to the new development proposed by Camilleri, are now invoking the same policies used by the Planning Authority to reject the application.

The development is being proposed on 1,200sq.m of open space along Triq L-Istefanotis and Triq Katerina Vitale in the heart of the locality, 80m away from the primary school. The area was added to development boundaries in 2006.     

The development was the subject of a public meeting held on 7 September called by the local council to explain why it had unanimously agreed to oppose the development and to give an opportunity to residents to voice their concerns before the council presents its formal objection.  The council has yet to present its formal objection.

During the meeting the council agreed to support and circulate an objection letter drafted by Moviment Graffitti in a bid to rally the community against the proposed development. In the past two days more than 100 objections have been signed by residents. Residents have until 22 September to submit their feedback to the Planning Authority.

According to the objection letter the proposed development of a green enclave in Santa Lucija to make way for yet another five-storey apartment block goes against the spirit of the way the small locality developed in the past 60 years as “a novel and pioneering housing concept”.

“This proposal as it is today goes against the original ideology in the design of the village which for the last 60 years, up until today has been respected,” the objectors are saying.

In their objection residents claim that the proposed building block is not being planned and developed to include a public open space as foreseen in the zoning permit issued in 2020.

The zoning permit specifies that two apartment blocks “shall each be planned and developed comprehensively” and that the developers of each block should “at their own expense construct, implement and maintain” each of the two public open spaces adjacent to each block.

The recently submitted application for the erection of one of the two blocks does not include any plans for the ‘open space’ on an adjacent site.

The residents insist that the proposal will remove an area that currently serves as a green lung to residents and that the visual impact of the development will be drastic to the existing townscape.  The development is described as excessively bulky, being two to three floors higher than the existing surrounding buildings.

The height of the building will also mean that residents in the surrounding area will be robbed of their privacy.  The objectors point out that while the surrounding block areas have a maximum of 27 units, the proposal alone will have 48 residential units and 75 garages.

Residents are warning that the proposed development will increase traffic in an area that is already difficult to park.

One of the objectors is Opposition MP Mark Anthony Sammut, who is insisting the proposed development jars with the balance that has been preserved in the locality throughout the years.

Sammut also points out that the architect of the project is Labour deputy leader Daniel Micallef. "Ironically, the architect is no more than Labour deputy leader Daniel Micallef, who in the evening promises us green open spaces in the midst of our villages, and in the morning files applications to destroy them," Sammut said.