Paola cannot handle too many “student studio apartments” that increase population density, strain infrastructure, eat away residents’ parking spaces and increase traffic congestion, the locality’s Labour mayor pleaded with the Planning Commission yesterday.

In a hearing about an approved, 17-apartment development, Mayor Dominic Grima urged commission members to impose hefty fees on developers who build apartments without providing sufficient parking spaces.

I expect fees for developers who eat away at parking spaces to be even higher than normal- Paola mayor Dominic Grima

He spoke just before the commission voted in favour of dramatically slashing the developer’s fee from €110,000 to €35,000.

“There is a similar permit on the opposite side of the road and another one at the back of this development, and we need to consider them because the locality will not be able to handle it,” the mayor said.

“I expect fees for developers who eat away at parking spaces to be even higher than normal because we are the ones who will face the problems.”

One of the developments planned in Triq Bormla, Paola

Developers who do not provide enough parking spaces to go with construction projects must pay a fee into the Urban Improvement Fund, which is used by the PA to invest in community initiatives.

But in certain student-populated areas, regulations allow those fines to be slashed by half, on the assumption that students will use fewer cars.

This is what happened with Friday's 17-unit block in Triq Bormla and Triq Qalb ta’ Ġesu.

Due to the growing MCAST facilities in Corradino, large areas of Paola, just like the area around University in Msida, are considered student priority areas – meaning the PA allows for the construction of one-bedroom apartments intended mostly for students.

This development will rise above surrounding dwellings.

Paola already stretched by commercial activity

But Grima and the local council have now set out on a mission to reduce the student priority area as much as possible, arguing that Paola is already stretched due to intense commercial activity.

“We do not want to do away with it completely. We just need to find the right balance,” he told Times of Malta.

The local council will be holding talks with the government to discuss shrinking the areas, while also trying to implement a master plan under which parking areas would be constructed on the fringes of Paola and a park-and-ride service would be go to the centre.

This is a bid to reduce traffic congestion and allow residents to have more parking spaces. Grima said developers who do not provide enough garage or parking space should pay hefty fees to be used for the improvement of the locality.

Another development planned for the area.

Most students have cars

It did not make sense to slash that fee by half in student priority areas, because most students nowadays have cars, he argued.

Paola came into the spotlight this week when an approved development in Triq Bormla and Triq Qalb ta’ Ġesu made headlines after initial, incorrect claims that the building would be rising to five storeys on Triq Bormla – a road lined with two-storey townhouses.

In reality, the project will rise to five floors on Triq Qalb ta’ Ġesu, on the other side of the development, with the Triq Bormla side having its facade retained with a recessed floor. 

Councillors and residents have expressed concern that the character of the relatively quiet neighbourhood in Paola will be significantly altered by having scores of studio apartments available for students.

Grima said the townhouses in Triq Bormla are probably safe because they fall within the urban conservation area protected by law. But at least two other developments have been proposed up the road.

One is a hostel covering four plots of land from the corner of Triq Bormla down to Triq il-Perit Dom Mintoff, a few metres up from the mosque.

Further down the road, in Triq Għajn Dwieli, the Planning Authority had approved an apartment block consisting of four floors and a receded penthouse level.

Although it will retain the existing facade, the development will rise high above the townhouses along the rest of the street.

A second, similar development has now been proposed for a neighbouring town house, paving the way for more house owners to follow suit.