PRIVATE PLAN CHANGE REQUEST TO KAPITI COAST DISTRICT PLAN AIRPORT ZONE: PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES Prepared for KAPITI COAST AIRPORT HOLDINGS LIMITED By RUSSELL McVEAGH February 2016 3015556 THE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ACT 1991 REQUEST FOR CHANGE TO THE KAPITI COAST DISTRICT PLAN BY KAPITI COAST AIRPORT HOLDINGS LIMITED KAPITI COAST AIRPORT HOLDINGS LIMITED ("KCAHL"), has requested changes to the Operative Kapiti Coast District Plan under Clause 21 of Part 2 of the First Schedule to the Resource Management Act ("RMA" or "Act"), as set out below. The subject of this application is the classification of certain prohibited activities in the Airport Zone of the Operative Kapiti Cost District Plan ("District Plan"). The changes sought to the District Plan are to remove prohibited activity status in relation to the specified activities as follows: 1. Amend Rule D.9.1.6(i) to provide that noise sensitive activities outside of the Air Noise Boundary not specifically provided for as a permitted activity are classified as a discretionary activity. 2. Amend Rule D.9.1.6(ii) to provide for one only Department Store to be classified as a non- complying activity. 3. Amend Rule D.9.1.6(iii) to provide for one only supermarket to be classified as a discretionary activity. 4. Amend Rule D.9.1.6(iv) to provide that more than one store of between 151m2 and 1,500m2 gross floor area that retails groceries or non-specified food lines to be classified as a discretionary activity. 5. Any consequential amendments to the District Plan that may be necessary to achieve the purpose of this private plan change request. Information supporting this plan change request is contained in the following pages, including the amendments sought, a statutory assessment of the proposal, and section 32 analysis. The plan change request and supporting assessment (including consultant reports) was lodged with the Kapiti Coast District Council in June 2015. This consolidated report has been updated to include additional information (and attaches further consultant reports) supplied to the Council in November 2015 following receipt of a further information request. 3015556 i STATUTORY ASSESSMENT REPORT REQUEST BY KAPITI COAST AIRPORT HOLDINGS LIMITED TO RE-CLASSIFY CERTAIN PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES TO NON-COMPLYING AND DISCRETIONARY ACTIVITIES CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 1 Scope of report ................................................................................................................... 1 Other supporting material ................................................................................................... 1 Executive summary ............................................................................................................ 1 2. PLAN CHANGE .......................................................................................................................... 2 Background ......................................................................................................................... 2 Purpose of the Plan Change .............................................................................................. 3 Justification for re-classifying certain activities from prohibited to non-complying or discretionary ....................................................................................................................... 3 3. EXISTING DEVELOPMENT IN THE AIRPORT ZONE ............................................................. 4 4. STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS ................................................................................................ 4 5. ASSESSMENT OF EFFECTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT ......................................................... 7 Actual or potential effects ................................................................................................... 7 Conclusion on effects ......................................................................................................... 8 6. SECTION 32 ANALYSIS ............................................................................................................ 9 Benefits ............................................................................................................................... 9 Costs of proposed changes ................................................................................................ 9 Summary of costs and benefits ........................................................................................ 10 Other reasonably practicable options for achieving the objectives of operative District Plan ....................................................................................................................... 11 Consideration of objectives in the operative District Plan ................................................ 12 Conclusions on "most appropriate" test ........................................................................... 15 Summary of alternatives considered with respect to activity status................................. 16 7. CONSULTATION ..................................................................................................................... 18 8. CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................................... 18 AMENDMENTS SOUGHT TO THE DISTRICT PLAN - MARK-UP ................................................ 19 3015556 1 STATUTORY ASSESSMENT REPORT 1. INTRODUCTION Scope of report 1.1 Kapiti Coast Airport Holdings Limited ("KCAHL") is making this request to re-classify activities currently classified as prohibited in the Airport Zone. This report: (a) explains the request for the plan change; (b) outlines the existing development in the Airport Zone; (c) records the statutory provisions relevant to the request; (d) contains information, assessment of effects and consideration of the relevant planning documents as required by the Act; (e) reviews the plan change request in the context of the District Plan provisions; and (f) presents a section 32 analysis and conclusion. Other supporting material 1.2 This plan change request is supported by letters attached from the following experts, including in response to a further information request by the Council: (a) Alistair White (Planning Focus Limited) - Planning; (b) Fraser Colegrave (Insight Economics Limited) - Retail Impact; (c) Tim Kelly (Tim Kelly Transportation Planning Limited) - Traffic; and (d) Laura McNeil (Marshall Day Acoustics Limited) - Noise. Executive summary 1.3 The proposed re-classification of activity status for specified activities from prohibited to non-complying and discretionary satisfies all the requirements of the RMA, and in particular section 32: (a) the proposed activity status is the most appropriate activity status for the respective activities, for achieving the relevant objectives of the Airport Zone and other zones; (b) prohibited status was never appropriate for those activities but was adopted for pragmatic reasons at the relevant time (to resolve appeals); (c) the cost of retaining prohibited status is significant - master planning of development of the Airport zone is unduly inhibited and KCAHL is unable to engage with the market as to how best to utilise the land and respond to the pending opening of the MacKays to Peka Peka expressway and the opportunity for this to catalyse further investment in the Kapiti District; 3015556 2 (d) the change in activity status will not cause any adverse effects on the environment - any effects will be robustly evaluated and considered later when any non-complying or discretionary consent is sought; (e) the change in activity status will provide a rule framework that is more consistent with the approach taken in the District Plan to other zones (where prohibited status is used sparingly); and (f) the change in activity status will allow for master planning of development of the land in an integrated way, and for all applications to be considered on their merits. 2. PLAN CHANGE Background 2.1 KCAHL is the owner and operator of the Kapiti Coast Airport. This private plan change request intends to facilitate a master planning exercise for the development of land owned by KCAHL, in the interim period while the Proposed Kapiti Coast District Plan ("Proposed Plan") is being completed. At present, a comprehensive master planning process is unable to be undertaken, as the market will not engage on options for the land in respect of any activities that are currently prohibited activities under the operative District Plan. 2.2 The prohibited activities status came about in the context of Plan Change 73, to resolve concerns held by a trade competitor, Coastlands Shoppingtown Limited ("Coastlands"). At that time, there was no statutory prohibition against a trade competitor participating in a plan change (or resource consent process) and seeking to protect itself from trade competition. KCAHL’s (through its predecessor, Paraparaumu Airport Limited) maintained at the time that it did not consider prohibited activity status was warranted from a planning perspective and that a plan change seeking to change the status of any prohibited activity could be sought in the future. KCAHL agreed to the prohibited activity status in order to enable a full and final settlement of the process underway at that time with Coastlands, but recorded its reservations as to the appropriateness of that activity status. 2.3