A row is brewing over Durban's historic Point Road buildings with developers and city officials at loggerheads over how the structures should be developed as part of regeneration plans for the area.
The buildings, located along the Point Historic Precinct, have been lying empty or are being used as warehouses by private owners for many years, but now form an integral part of the Point redevelopment.
The problem, however, is that the city - with the assistance of Amafa kaZulu, a heritage organisation - has declared the buildings provisional national monuments and this has put pressure on developers to ensure that any development should not change its structure.
This dilemma has prompted city officials to come up with a plan that will change the zoning of some parts of the Point area.
According to the proposal, the buildings that were allocated for general use will now be classified as special zones. This will protect historical buildings and ensure the economic viability of the area.
City manager Mike Sutcliffe said the plan, which was presented to property developers in Durban last week, would ensure that the rejuvenation of the Point area was in line with the city's development framework.
Julie-May Ellingson of iTrump said: "We are proposing that the area should be classified as a special zone. This will set out how the development will be done, taking into account the historical significance of the buildings in the precinct."
Ellingson said the city had adopted an international document known as the Borough Charter to serve as a guiding principle on how to go about developing historical buildings.
When asked about potential traffic problems in the Point development, Ellingson said improvement of roads along the Point area was on the cards to alleviate future traffic problems.
Frank Reitz, a member of Amafa kaZulu's built environment committee, emphasised the importance of striking a balance between development and keeping old buildings.
"Any structure that is more than 60 years old should be protected and we have declared the historical buildings along the Point road as provisional national monuments," said Reitz.
Another issue that has pitted property developers and city officials against each other are accusations that the latter has allowed developers outside the Point Waterfront Development to put up buildings that are higher than the acceptable 12-storey height.
Rick Wilson, chairman of the Durban Point Development Association, said developers of the Point Waterfront were the pioneers of development in the area, but were now being sidelined.
"We bought into this dream of developing the Point area and we had to contend with severe height restrictions that were imposed on us by the council.
"I am concerned that people just outside the Point development have now been allowed to put up 35-storey buildings by the same council that placed restrictions on us. We would like the council to reconsider and we will continue to engage them," said Wilson.
However, city officials said different rules applied to properties outside the Point Waterfront Development. The city's plan for the area also received the backing of the Point Property Owners Association.
The association's chairman, Peter Kettle, said: "We are very impressed with the city's presentation and the fact that they have agreed that the zoning of property along Point Road is different to the zoning within the Point Development Company Precinct."
He defended the city's height restriction inside the Point Waterfront, saying the nature of the zoning did not permit them to build 35-storey buildings.
Complaints have also been levelled against certain property owners by the Point Development Company for reaping the rewards of a clean environment provided by the company's urban improvement precinct without paying for it.
Neels Brink, chairman of the Point Development Company, warned that if the potential traffic problem was not addressed the Point development would be in a mess.