Plans for two Darby Street apartment buildings regarded as "disastrous" by Cooks Hill Community Group are on public exhibition at Newcastle council.
In February, councillors refused a five-storey redevelopment of the former Mons restaurant building at 150 Darby Street because it was too high and had an "unreasonable impact on the built environment in the locality of the site, in terms of character, height, bulk, scale and visual appearance".
Developer Rob Dawson has now lodged amended plans lopping three metres off the building to fit it under the site's 14-metre height limit.
Cooks Hill Community Group spokesman Glenn Burgess had described the proposed building as "disastrous for the heritage streetscape" and feared it would set a precedent for future development.
He said on Thursday that the amended plans did not change the group's opinion of the building.
The council rejected the original plans despite a staff report recommending they be approved.
The city's Urban Design Consultative Group said in the report that the existing post-World War II building was "nondescript" and contributed nothing to the area's heritage value.
The amended plans are on public exhibition until August 17.
Another development application dating back to 2018, for a $10 million, four-storey building across the road at 113-125 Darby Street, is on public exhibition until Friday.
The proposed apartment block contains 29 units, shops and a basement car park on the site of a commercial building containing eateries Sanctum, Darby Raj, Haeundae Korean Restaurant, 5 Sawyers bar, a rear car park and several other businesses.
The plans have attracted more than 60 public submissions.
Mr Burgess' submission on behalf of the community group raises objections over the building's height and its effect on the street's heritage value.
