Residents of Bukit Damansara are urging City Hall to scrap the proposed development of a high-rise, luxury condominium in a locality occupied exclusively by bungalows.

The two 23-storey blocks of 94 condominium units would tower over its neighbours, on land that the residents claim has been designated for low-rise development.

In a statement, the residents said City Hall had issued a notice of the application for the development on a site bordered by Jalan Setiakasih, Jalan Setiakasih 6 and Jalan Setiakasih 7.

They said more than 200 objection letters were submitted by the residents in response, before the deadline of December 22, 2015 given in the notice.

Datuk Seri Shaik Daud Ismail, who has lived in Bukit Damansara for 20 years, said the land was designated for bungalows only.

“The whole area is rocky, and in order to build, they would have to break the rocks down, which could jeopardise the integrity of the structure of the land and houses around it.

“This could be a very complicated process and might have been one of the reasons a project to build low-rise, landed property here was abandoned by the developer five years ago,” he said.

According to the residents, Bukit Damansara was zoned for bungalows back in the 1970s.

“The surrounding profile and character is clearly low-density, with bungalows and semi-detached bungalows only,” the statement said.

The existing tall building in the area, Desa Damansara was conceptualised in the 1970s and was not incongruent with the landscape because it stood on the perimeter of the neighbourhood. The proposed development on the other hand, is smack in the middle of and extremely close to the rows of bungalows, the statement said.

A Bukit Damansara resident of 21 years, Syed Farid Alatas said the proposed development would conceivably raise the population density by 270%, from 24 to 89 persons per acre.

The development will essentially ruin the ambience and increase traffic congestion. It smacks of haphazard planning and corporate greed.

"You can’t build any way you like and put high rises in a place meant for low-rise buildings. One has to respect the zoning system,” he said, adding that such randomness in city development and planning was not the way for Malaysia to achieve developed status by 2020.

Syed said such a thing would never had been heard of on the former mayor’s watch.

“The former mayor said he would never allow something like this to be even proposed. If such a thing is allowed through, what is stopping everyone from selling the land on which their houses stand for condominiums to be built?” he said, adding that such a proposal reflected poorly on City Hall’s decision-making abilities.

Nur Azreen Abdul Manap, who has resided in Bukit Damansara for 24 years, said the zoning of the land must be maintained.

"City Hall’s reference number for the project, 'DBKL.JPRB 3960/2007/1', indicates that it is a file from 2007, which means that it is an old project that has somehow morphed from a bungalow or semi-detached development into a high-rise condominium,” she said.

Nur Azreen said the residents would lose all privacy if the development was actualised.

“Suddenly there is a 23 storey condominium looking down at us, in our gardens, when we walk about in our pyjamas. It may also affect the value of our property,” she said.

The residents are scheduled to meet City Hall today for discussion.