A grand new 8-story hotel with a rooftop pool could soon be an iconic feature of the Taupō.

Landmarks don't have to be pretty – they just have to visible, a hotel developer's lawyer says.

Cypress Capital plans to build an 8-storey hotel in downtown Taupō which would have 84 rooms of 4.5-star hotel accommodation, three basement levels, retail stores to lease on the ground floor, and a roof-top restaurant and pool.

However, there has been strong opposition from some in the community with many saying the hotel is too high for the area.

SUPPLIED What will Taupō look like with an 8-storey new hotel? The developer has provided some mock-ups...

At a resource consent hearing on the proposed hotel over three days in December, 12 people spoke in opposition and two spoke in support.

Responding to points made at the hearing, counsel for Cypress Capital [CC], C. Malone, said the idea Taupō had a "three storey limit", as raised by many submitters, was incorrect.

READ MORE:

* Former mayor: 'Rule-breaking hotel ruins my rule-breaking aspirations

* Council says 8-storey Taupō hotel proposal holds up

* Hearing to be held on controversial 8-storey hotel

* Public to have their say on eight storey Taupo hotel

* Taupō CBD in line for its tallest building

SUPPLIED The new hotel is expected to be landmark form in the town's streetscape, when completed.

Instead Taupō District Plan asks that tall buildings, which stand above Taupō town's general height, become "landmark buildings" in the low-rise town.

The plan says: "On an appropriate site, this [a development] may create the opportunity for a landmark building, without necessarily detracting from the scale and character of the remaining town centre".

But Malone said the Taupō District Plan contained no definition of "landmark building".

WALKER COMMERCIAL ARCHITECTS Where the proposed hotel would sit.

"It is, therefore, necessary to consider the plain and ordinary meaning of the word 'landmark'," he said.

"Landmark" was defined as "an object or feature of a landscape or town that is easily seen and recognised from a distance" according to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary 2010, Malone said.

"Based on the evidence presented for Cypress, and even the submitters in opposition to the proposal, the proposed hotel will be easily seen and recognised from a distance from various places around Taupō.

ROBERT STEVEN/STUFF The proposed hotel will replace the carpark at 29 Tuwharetoa St, which Taupo District Council sold to a private party in February 2016 for $960,000. The site has a land value of $1.16 million.

"That means it is a landmark building in accordance with the plain and ordinary meaning of the word 'landmark'."

Malone said whether the hotel was an "appropriate/suitable landmark" for Tuwharetoa St was the next question to be answered.

"In circumstances of this case, that question cannot be answered by asking people what their subjective opinions are regarding whether they like the look of the building or not or having a show of hands or counting up those submitters in favour and those against," he said.

"After all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and, as a result, reasonable people will disagree on the aesthetic merits of a painting, a building, a landscape etc.

"Ultimately, that all comes down to nothing more than personal preference."

Malone said the significant benefits of the proposal - such as a $10m per annum boost to the Taupō economy – were presented by the two submissions in favour: Taupō Business Chamber and Enterprise Great Lake Taupō (EGLT).

"EGLT advised the Panel that a hotel such as the one proposed is critical to the CBD to cater for the segment of the market just below the luxury market," Malone said.

Malone said the CBD was the right place for a hotel and these submissions reinforced that view.

He said the Taupō Urban Commercial and Industrial Structure Plan, against which resource consent decisions should be assessed, also supported this view.

He cited the following passage: "Also of growing influence is the desire to promote a greater mix of land uses in the town centre. Encouraging commercial accommodation activities and residential living into the town centre will contribute to great vibrancy, increased safety – particularly at night – and increased footfall with the associated economic benefits for retailers and food establishments".

Commissioners will make a decision on whether to grant or decline permission to build the hotel at 29 Tuwharetoa St in mid-February.