Recently we got a letter in the mail inviting comment on the rezoning of our land from GRZ2 to GRZ3. We live there now but in the long term the house is intended to be an investment. From a property investment perspective, to me it sounds like this will hurt the area greatly for development, insofar as building 2 units/townhouses on the one block goes. But on the other hand, does it make the house more valuable from a scarcity perspective? Anyone's experience/knowledge in the area with something like this would be great. From the Monash website: Some of the key changes proposed to the residential development standards applying to new development in the General Residential Zone 3 (GRZ3) are briefly summarised below and include: Requiring garages and carports to be setback 1 metre behind the front of a dwelling Requiring any development built on a side boundary to be setback 2 metres behind the front of the dwelling Decreasing the maximum building site coverage from 60% to 40% Increasing onsite permeability from 20% to 40% Requiring the planting of 2 canopy trees Increasing the rear setback from 1 metre to 5 metres Requiring that the private open space for a dwelling includes one parcel of 60m2 In more detail: GRZ 3 Schedule: http://www.newresidentialzonesmonash.com.au/files/3114/3408/7964/General_Residential_Zone_3_GRZ3.pdf GRZ 2 Schedule: http://planningschemes.dpcd.vic.gov.au/schemes/monash/ordinance/32_08s02_mona.pdf
Last weekI was at a meeting at Monash Council. The friendly planner advised the Panel report has been issued. A council meeting is to be held in February- late I was told. Council will consider the Panel report and decide whether to adopt it or reject and have another try??? C125 is Monash telling mum and dad developers that if they want to develop they cant do it that easily in their Garden municipality. What???? People are crying out for accommodation here but it is falling on deaf ears. A dual occupancy on a 680 sqm block will be hard if the C125 Amendment gets through as proposed by Council and if Council adopts the Panel Report and finally the Planning Minister agrees to sign off- who seems to agree on these restrictive measures. A dual occ block would be heading more towards the 750sqm size where we could get 3 small units before! In one our applications on a 18m frontage 680sqm lot the 3 bedroom had to be reduced to 2 bedroom dual occ to get Council support. Why- because Council not only wants their large Secluded open Space but the balance POS has to be 3m wide! They agreed that condition is not specified in their Planning Scheme- at least they were honest about it. Developing is getting harder for mum dad developers.
Councils have discovered that it's easier to introduce controls like that in the planning scheme(s) to avoid loosing at appeal/VCAT. It's a pretty bad situation and increasingly so. The Panel system is a little crazy - the Panel only recommends back to the Council and the Council can either accept or reject Panel recommendations.
If it is accepted by council, and minister, what are the timeframes for adoption? In your experience, have you found council planners take any of the amendments elements into consideration when assessing current DA proposals, before official adoption?
If it's been through the Panel process it's deemed to be a "seriously entertained planning proposal" meaning, yes, the planners will take it into account. Once finally adopted by the Council, it's usually around 6 weeks to gazette by the Minister, ir thereabouts.