The owners of 111 Clinton Street have proposed a triple garage at the back of the property facing Rosemary Lane with a secondary dwelling upstairs.

Owner Peter Bromley addressed councillors at last week's meeting, saying the family had been working with the council and its heritage adviser for a year on the plans.

He said after the previous meeting, where the item was deferred so his neighbour could seek advice, he had offered to reduce the roof pitch by five degrees, lowering the height by 55 centimetres.

"Thus alleviating any shadowing that could have potentially upset our neighbour, which we at no stage intended to upset," he said.

With questions arising last month on whether the secondary dwelling could be used for a B'n'B, Mr Bromley said he and his wife had 23 nieces and nephews.

"[I don't think] it's fair to ... pay $1500 to visit their family - my parents live in Sydney, they like to come out four or five times a year, at the moment they stay a max two or three nights because they sleep on the floor," he said.

Anne Kennedy said the development would affect the amount of sunlight through her north-facing windows, which she relied upon during winter.

She referred to planning guidelines stipulating developments within 15 metres from the road should be single-storey.

"It's obvious the secondary dwelling has its primary entrance from Rosemary Lane via the front door and it's only 5.5 metres from the Rosemary Lane entrance," she said.

Councillor Scott Munro said he empathised with the neighbour, but also acknowledged the changes.

"That was a compromise and I love to see compromise," he said.

Responding to a question about the planning guidelines, acting development services director Mark Hodges said staff did not agree with Mrs Kennedy's argument.

"The principle frontage is Clinton Street," he said.

Mr Hodges also said the development would have no impact on Mrs Kennedy's solar access.

"There's an existing fence in the neighbour's yard - that would have more overshadowing than the proposal," he said.

Councillor Joanne McRae said it did put a focus on Rosemary Lane as a minor street.

"It does provide us with some opportunity to reflect on our heritage areas and how we move forward with infill development," she said.

Mayor Reg Kidd was the only one to vote against it.

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