THE Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC) has put a halt on approving the building and planning application for The Ascent at Oxford Road, New Kingston, which was proposed to be the tallest building in the country if constructed.

According to Councillor Kari Douglas (Jamaica Labour Party, Trafalgar Division), who is deputy chair of the KSAMC’s Building and Town Planning Committee, the disapproval was mostly linked to the Town and Country Planning Provisional Development Order, 2017 along with several of its elements.

“There is time for a review now, for it to be amended, upgraded and republished as the new development order. The Government has to do that quickly because there is just too much uncertainty and I understand why the residents would be so frustrated with the process,” Douglas told the Jamaica Observer after a KSAMC meeting for the application of The Ascent on Wednesday.

Douglas, who is also a land economist, valuation surveyor and real estate dealer, pointed to one element of the order, which is the height of buildings in the Oxford Road zone.

“I was told that currently, the allowable height is 12 stories, yet still National Environment & Planning Agency (NEPA), who has the authority to give approval, has gone and given approval to a 26-storey building. I was also told that it (building height above 12 stories) is proposed in the new development order which has not yet even been confirmed,” argued Douglas.

The developers of the 26-storey skyscraper, Stratosphere Development Limited, were given approval by NEPA regarding technical requirements for construction phases.

The permit had allowed the developers to build 28 residential units, 11 office levels and 305 parking spaces.

Further, Douglas had made a call to the Town and Country Planning Authority to move swiftly to have the new order confirmed by July.

“Failing to do so, I am likely to support the elements of a proposed moratorium that has been made by concerned and frustrated residents and prominent public personalities. What they are doing is asking the Government to consider a moratorium on high-rise buildings above three stories and high-density development until the authorities led by central government has concluded an audit and interrogation of the building and planning system, as was recently asked and announced by Mayor Williams,” she said.

“I am likely to support it, as long as we are satisfied that all the external agencies have fulfilled their role and as long as the infrastructure is able to manage the type of development that is coming there and the planning characteristics are all observed,” she added.

At the same time, Douglas stressed that the absence of a few representatives from critical external agencies such as National Water Commission (NWC) from the meeting, also contributed to the decision.