MANAHAN PLANNERS Chartered Town Planning Consultants
38 Dawson Street, Dublin 2 Phone: 01 679 9094 Fax: 01 679 9284 info@manahanplanners.com www.manahanplanners.com Tony Manahan B.A. Hons. M. Phil. (Edin) MIPI MRTPI
Fiona O’Callaghan B.A. (Mod) MURP MIPI
Simone Ni Cheallaigh B.A. (Mod) MURP MIPI MRTPI
Administrator: Barbara O’Brien VAT No. 2850391 E
19th January 2016 The Secretary, An Bord Pleanala 64 Marlborough Street Dublin 1
Re: First Party appeal to convert 29 Dawson Street, Dublin 2 from retail to coffee shop for Pink Ireland Ltd. Local Authority ref.3861/15 Dear Sirs,
We have been retained by the applicant, Pink Ireland Ltd, 29 Dawson Street, Dublin 2, to lodge an appeal against the Decision of Dublin City Council to refuse permission for the change of use of this premises from a retail premises to that of a coffee shop. We enclose a payment of €1500.00. The following are the grounds of appeal.
Site Context The site is located towards the southern end of Dawson Street which is predominantly populated at ground floor by retail, commercial and cafe/restaurant units. The site is adjoining a cocktail bar (Peruke and Periwig) to the north and a Wine and Whiskey Specialty shop (Celtic Whiskey/Wines on the Green) to the south.
The Proposal The proposal relates to the change of use from that of a retail outlet to a coffee shop use. The Ground and Basement levels would be fitted out as a coffee shop. The upper floors will remain in office use. It should be noted that it is proposed to serve coffee and pastries and such like from a server area, as shown on the accompanying drawings. It is not proposed to create a kitchen which would serve a full range of food, such that this premises could be regarded as a restaurant. It is proposed to locate an accessible toilet, the seating and serving area at Ground Floor level, while a customer and staff toilet,as well as a staff changing room, are proposed for the Basement Level. The remainder of the Basement is to be used as an office/storage area. Manahan Planners
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No external or structural modifications are proposed for the building. The name of a future operator would be located within the existing fascia sign.
Development Plan Provisions The subject site is designated Objective Z5 which seeks to "consolidate and facilitate the development of the central area, and to identify, reinforce, strengthen and protect its civic design character and dignity" while aiming to "sustain life within the centre of the city through intensive mixed-use development". The site is located within an Architectural Conservation Area (ACA). ACA status is intended to preserve the special character of streetscapes that are “of architectural, historical, archaeological, artistic, cultural, scientific, technical or social interest”. Many of the surrounding buildings are Protected Structures, but Number 29 is not included in that List. Moreover no changes are proposed to the external appearance of this building.
Extract from Dublin City Development Plan 2010-2016 Zoning Map E
Planning Authority Assessment In its assessment of the application the Area Planning officer decided to refuse permission for the proposed development. The report cited a number of reasons for this. The primary reason raised was that this proposal would contribute to a diminishment of the retail character of this part of Dawson Street, which the planner stated has been retained thus far, whereas in other parts of Dawson Street this character “has been eroded by the provision of non-retail uses”. Manahan Planners
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In response this “erosion” is noticeable elsewhere in the street in that the building form is that of separate office buildings without a ground floor retail unit. In this case no physical change is proposed to the shop front, so externally the visual character remains intact. The area planner also states that the proposal, if approved, would result in the provision of a third coffee shop on “a relatively small section of the street”, and two adjacent non-retail uses at ground floor level, “all of which is contrary to the intention of the Category 2 designation”. The planner further stated that the proposed development, if granted, “would result in a disproportionate number of complementary uses for this section of Dawson Street” and therefore be in contravention of its Category 2 designation. We don’t believe the number would be disproportionate as this coffee shop is different in form and nature from the existing two. (See Later). This assessment led to a refusal on grounds that the proposed development “would result in the erosion of the retail character of the street and result in a disproportionate number of complementary uses at this location”. We do not agree with this assessment for the reasons set out below.
Response to refusal Development Plan policies The subject site is located on Dawson Street which is classified as a 'Category 2' retail street in the Development Plan's Retail Strategy. The Retail Strategy supports the presence of cafe's on Category 2 streets, stating "complementary non-retail uses such as a cafe and restaurants that add to the vibrancy of the street and create a mixed-use environment to provide for a more integrated shopping and leisure experience, will be considered favourably but with regard also to the primary retail function of the street." Paragraph 10.5.2 of the Development Plan identifies the need to control "the extent of provision of non-retail uses at ground floor level, but also allows for uses complementary to the main shopping focus such as a cafés, bars, restaurants and galleries". A cafe is a permissible use under Z5 zoning. Policy RE10 recognises the importance of the locally traded service sector and seeks to "promote and facilitate the economic and employment generating potential of the locally traded services sector, making the city more attractive/vibrant for residents, shoppers, visitors and workers, and to recognise the clustering benefits of, for example, cafes and restaurants". As the Development Plan's Retail Strategy outlines, cafes create a valuable contribution to the "integrated shopping and leisure experience" in Dublin City centre. There are ample policies to support this use. Manahan Planners
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General Considerations on Coffee Shops There has been much comment recently concerning the loss of retail premises within Dublin City Centre, with an increased demand for cafe and restaurant uses. In the past this reduction of retail would represent a worrying trend, one that was often associated with the urban decline and the emergence of suburban shopping centre’s. This "suburban flight" was symptomatic of the threats that city centre’s around the world faced in the past three or four decades. Many city centre’s were "hollowed" out and suffered from the "donut effect" which led in many places to decades of vacancy and urban decay. However, rather than a sign of the decline of city centre streets, the increase in demand for cafe and restaurant premises is part of an international trend that can be associated with city centre’s that experience increased liveability and improved pedestrian environments. City centre’s today strive to be places that people stay in and spend time in, rather than as purely locations that accommodate functional uses such as offices and shops, which close at 6.00 and are empty at night. Increased residential use in the city centre go hand in hand with additional coffee shop use “open all hours”. It is the case that the retail sector has undergone radical transformations, with iconic Dublin stores changing ownership, the introduction of international brands and arguably most critically, the emergence of online retailing. This has led to some retailers reducing their requirement for floor space in city centre premises. To leave their premises empty and vacant would create a sense of decay and dereliction rather than vibrancy and making streets attractive places to visit. A city and its centre in particular, dating back to ancient Greece and beyond, is both a meeting place for its citizens to converse in leisure and a market place to transact its work activities. Economic research indicates that the increase in consumption generally, and on comparison goods in particular, over the past 20 years has been debt driven rather than deriving from increasing productivity and wages. The need for deleveraging over the next 20 years is agreed by most commentators. This will affect spending on comparison goods and so the need for physical floor space will decline. This process will be accelerated by the migration of spending to the internet. In such circumstances it is submitted that it is not the function of the Planning System to require that the quantum of floor space in retail use in the city centre remains higher than is required. In addition the quality and quantity of its coffee shops in a city centre is a draw for tourists and is used by the local tourist boards in their promotional literature – Munich, Vienna, and Barcelona are obvious examples. Dublin must not lose out in promoting this visitor attraction. In addition it has been commented on that for locals and visitors strolling around the city centre, there are almost no public seats on pavements or pedestrianised streets for people to pause and rest on their journey unlike many other cities. This applies to especially older people. This requirement is partially catered to instead by coffee shops. Manahan Planners
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In summary, a city is ever-evolving. Changes of use to coffee shops are easily reversible. If in the future the demand for retail floor space picks up again and if retail generates a greater return than a coffee shop, owners and occupiers of buildings will migrate back to retail. In the meantime, buildings should continue in uses that are desirable and sought after at the time. While the Planning System should not be dictated to by the ‘market’, it does need to be flexible in order to respond to emerging dynamics within the ‘market’, so that it continues to facilitate the evolution of our towns and cities rather than restrict them through overly prescription and unresponsive policies. Character of Dawson Street The Area Planner refers to the character of Dawson Street in terms that suggests character is a static and historic element that requires preservation rather than something that is continually evolving into the future. Citing the fact that the section of Dawson Street in which the subject site is located has retained its character thus far, the planner claims it is incumbent on the Council to restrict developments that may be seen to be out of keeping with this perceived character. It is our contention that this is a misguided approach to the assessment of the character of a street. Dawson Street has always contained a mixture of different land-uses and will continue to do so as it evolves into the future. It is one of the finest streets in the city and this quality comes from the mix of uses of which retail is only one. Externally this premises will continue to have an unchanged shop unit and this will contribute to retaining the existing visual amenity and character of the street. Physical interventions generally have a much greater impact on the character of a street as they are, for the most part, irreversible in nature and alter the visual appearance and feel of a street. As discussed above, changes to land use are reversible and usually react to the dynamics of the market at any given time. Specific Considerations relating to south end of Dawson Street The proposed cafe will bring increased vibrancy to this part of Dawson Street and will arguably bring greater activity than the existing clothing shop and generate larger flows of pedestrian footfall. Dawson Street, as a Category 2 retail street, requires ancillary and complementary businesses such as cafe's to augment its retail presence and improve the user experience of visitors to the street. Further, Dawson Street has a strong presence of commercial units. Again, as the economy has strengthened recently after a protracted downturn, there is a greater demand for office space in the city centre and on streets such as Dawson Street. A plentiful supply of cafe's, restaurants and bars in the local vicinity has become Manahan Planners
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an increasing priority for occupiers and prospective tenants of these commercial premises. The Area Planner refers to the existence already of a number of coffee shops in this south end of Dawson Street. “It is noted that there is already a coffee shop/café at No. 26 Dawson Street, which appears to have a larger footprint than that proposed. There is also a coffee shop with a similar offer on the opposite corner of Dawson Street and St. Stephen’s Green North”. In fact there are only two coffee shops as well as a restaurant, a cocktail bar and a basement bar that prides itself as being the smallest pub in the city. The two coffee shops are both small in floor area and cater primarily to the take away business of the surrounding offices. No 26 does not “have a larger footprint”. They are both narrow in depth and have a few tables to sit at, squeezed in along their windows. The sit down element is miniscule in contrast to the subject of this appeal which would be primarily a sit down premises. This equally applies to the “Little Ass Burito Bar” which has a small floor area and which appears to accommodate most people (both queuing and eating) on the adjoining footpath. At peak hours these three premises have queues out onto the footpath. They are crowded, uncomfortable and are clearly over trading.
In that regard the primary sit down coffee shop in this area was the very popular “Fixx” which was at the corner of Dawson Street and Molesworth Street. That shop closed in recent months with the demolition and redevelopment of the entire building. It is likely the ground floor will be a large retail unit, probably fashion, with offices overhead and so that coffee shop will not be reinstated. The new office users overhead will be looking for Coffee. That loss of custom is being taken up by Coffee Angel and the Barista School on South Anne Street, both of which are very small in area and are primarily take out. Finally the Sicily coffee shop in the basement of 49 Dawson Street is
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also small in area and while it has seating to cater to more customers it is very cramped and is primarily a take- out facility. Due to its size and spacious layout the proposed premises will be unlike any other on this part of the street, providing a relaxing environment for customers to enjoy the cafĂŠ environment in its more traditional sense. Finally in this regard, if this shop is inspected presently at any hour of the day, there will only be 2 staff and few if any customers patronising the premises. In contrast if this permission is granted, the proposed cafe will contain 30 to 50 persons on the premises at all times throughout the day and evening, generating a “buzzâ€? about the premises and a vibrancy to the street. It is submitted that this latter impact is more in line with the policy objectives in the Development Plan to encourage vibrancy and vitality in the city centre and represents a more sustainable and efficient use of such a premises which maximises its city centre location. In relation to the South City Retail Quarter Architectural Conservation Area, this total area has been enlivened and made more attractive for shoppers by the complimentary uses that have been developed in recent years. This applies in particular to the area around South William Street, Drury Street, Clarendon Street which were previously rather drab streets catering to the wholesale clothing business and office uses. Today they are alive up to Fade Street with shoppers taking breaks or lunches in the newly opened premises. Many of these would not be permitted if the Planning Authority took a harsh line in implementing this policy.
Conclusion It is our contention that this proposal will not diminish or alter unacceptably the character of the street. It will increase the footfall, dynamism and attractiveness of this end of Dawson Street as a city centre destination and will ameliorate the character of the street. It is submitted that this development is consistent with the policies in the City Development Plan outlined previously which encourages complimentary uses to enliven the city centre. Accordingly it is submitted that the proposed development is consistent with the proper planning and the sustainable development of the area and we request that the Board grant planning permission for this appropriate and welcome development. Yours Faithfully
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Manahan Planners
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