A split decision at Monday's city council meeting has killed plans for a townhouse development in Porter Creek, even before the proposal hit the street.

With Mayor Bev Buckway and two other members of council voting to advance the 14-unit proposal for public review, and three other members voting no, the application was defeated.

Coun. Doug Graham is out of town.

Business before city council requires support from the majority of members for approval. Issues ending in a tie vote are defeated.

Buckway and Councillors Betty Irwin and Dave Austin voted to approve first reading of the application and send it through the public review process. Councillors Dave Stockdale, Ranj Pillai and Florence Roberts voted it down.

Robby King and Marilyn Novak applied to have the two adjoining single-family lots at the corner of 14th Avenue and Holly Street rezoned to allow for the construction of 14 townhouses; two rows of seven facing each other, with a common driveway up the middle coming off Holly.

Pillai told his elected colleagues he felt that after city council had approved the hotly debated six-plex at the corner of Centennial Street and 12th Avenue, it had made a commitment to stick with the more traditional lower-density housing in Porter Creek.

King declined comment following the meeting.

In an interview afterward, Roberts explained her rejection of the application was based on what she believes is clear desire by the neighbourhood to maintain lower-density developments.

There are already four new infill lots going in between the two corner lots and the Guild Hall, she pointed out.

Roberts said having the type of townhouse project going up on a fairly large two-hectare space next to the Porter Creek Mall is one thing.

Having the same type of density squeezed onto a lot a fraction of the size is another matter completely, she explained.

Roberts, however, said she talked with King and Novak after Monday's meeting. She told them if they could show her their proposal has support from the neighbourhood, she'd bring it back to council for reconsideration.

"I really would bring it back if they could show me they have community support,” she said. "But they have to accept it too if they can't.”

Roberts said the city has just gone through an exhaustive exercise of bringing on infill lots for development in Porter Creek and Crestview.

It's abundantly clear that residents of both subdivisions prefer single-family housing when it comes to new developments, in keeping with the general flavour of their neighbourhoods, Roberts said.