Several opinions written in uniform format and content in support of the requested extra height for Macau Legend Development Ltd.’s Legendale Hotel are evident in the over 600 opinions received by the government regarding the project. Public works official Lao Iong has said that the opinions will be further processed by the government and Urban Planning Committee. A total of 636 opinions have recently been publicised on the official website of the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT), which concluded a second round of public consultations in early April regarding the height allowed for a 5-star hotel to be built at Macau Fisherman’s Wharf. Macau Legend wants the maximum height allowed for the hotel to be 90 metres above ground level. Business Daily has confirmed with Macau Legend before that the hotel is known as Legendale Hotel, which is to be built as part of the revamp of Macau Fisherman’s Wharf. The hotel is a project with a planned 500 guest rooms including suites and is slated to see construction finished by the fourth quarter of 2017, Macau Legend announced in its 2014 annual results. As viewed by Business Daily, several of the written opinions uploaded on the DSSOPT website – which were filed anonymously – were written in a uniform format and content: this content said that the writer of the opinion agreed with the draft plan allowing a maximum height of 90 metres above ground for Macau Legend’s hotel, and a maximum plot ratio at 2.6 times for the theme park, without any further reasoning. Another batch of opinions written in a uniform content said the government should allow the 90 metres of maximum height for the hotel, as this would “bring about the best use of land resources” in land-scarce Macau. Mr. Lao Iong, chief of the urban planning department of DSSOPT, told reporters on Tuesday that his Bureau has identified many filed opinions supporting the height for Legendale Hotel to be set at 90 metres above ground. When asked if several of the filed opinions contained the same content, Mr. Lao stressed that the government would not let their final decision be influenced by the quantity of opinions received, just the reasoning expressed. “We’re going to analyse whether these opinions show a sufficient reasoning,” said Mr. Lao. “We’ll also look at our own [architectural] laws and administrative guidelines for assessing the case. And this will be further discussed at the Urban Planning Committee.” The latest urban condition plan the Bureau has issued for Macau Legend’s revamp project, a document that states the intended approval for the project’s height limit and site area, indicates that the maximum height allowed for the establishments located in a zone of the waterfront property right opposite the side of the adjacent Sands casino is 90 metres – a restriction that was further relaxed from the 60 metres the Bureau stated in its initial urban condition plan publicised in June last year. This latest urban condition plan has stirred up much public controversy, with some opinions filed in the latest public consultations arguing that if the 90-metre height is allowed for Legendale the redevelopment of the site will block the view of the coast from the Guia Lighthouse.
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