South Dublin County Council has proposed the rezoning of a site at Citywest Hotel to facilitate the completion of a conference centre which had been partially built without planning permission and which was threatened with demolition.
The building, owned by property developer Mr Jim Mansfield, is the subject of enforcement proceedings by the council after work began on it before it had full planning approval.
But despite the enforcement proceedings, the council has also now given an undertaking not to take any action to force Mr Mansfield to take down the structure pending the outcome of a judicial review into its planning status.
South Dublin County Council management has defended its proposal to rezone the site and its support for the project, saying it was welcome tourist infrastructure for the area.
The rezoning proposal, made by council management, is included in a list of proposed amendments to the council's draft development plan published yesterday. Councillors have approved the amendment and will make a final decision on the zoning by December.
The site, at Citywest Hotel in Saggart, Co Dublin, was the subject of controversy after it emerged that preliminary work had begun in September last year, two months before it received planning permission. In November, work began on the construction of the building, and continued into January, despite the fact that An Taisce lodged a planning appeal in early December.
In March, An Bord Pleanála upheld the appeal on the grounds that the site was not zoned for commercial development and a conference centre of its nature was better suited to the city centre because of transport links. Mr Mansfield has initiated judicial review proceedings against this decision.
Speaking after the Bord Pleanála ruling, senior planners for the council said they hoped the structure would be removed "by agreement" with Mr Mansfield's company, HSS Ltd.
Yesterday, a spokesman for the council said the rezoning proposal reflected the council's position that the site, attached to a large hotel complex, was suitable for such a development, and he denied it was providing planning "through the back door" for Mr Mansfield.
"From the very beginning, the council was in favour of the conference centre as a valuable addition to the tourist infrastructure of the county," he told The Irish Times.
He said the council was continuing with enforcement proceedings relating to the initial work on the site and a case was due to be heard by the district court next month.
He said the council had given an undertaking not to take any action to try and have the existing structure removed, pending Mr Mansfield's High Court challenge.
Cllr Fintan McCarthy, of the Green Party, said it "beggars belief that you have the same planning agency taking enforcement proceedings on the one hand and on the other trying to undermine a planning ruling".
Mr Mansfield welcomed the rezoning plan.