Hamilton Mayor Lawson Mapp said the Bank of Bermuda/HSBC had started to back down from its plan to erect a seven-storey bank on top of the former Trimingham Brothers shop on Front Street.

On October 18, The Bank of Bermuda/HSBC sought final planning permission to develop a new mixed-use commercial development ? seven storeys with a new pedestrian lane and gathering (communal) space on Reid Street for No's 39, 41 and 43 Front Street.

But on November 9, the Corporation of Hamilton objected to the application, saying it was not a mixed use building, as only a very small floor space would be used for retail and the rest was banking. It did not comply with mandatory setbacks and had too many storeys.

"The Corporation of Hamilton is very pleased to read that the bank will be tweaking the proposed new development to include additional Bermuda design elements," Mr. Mapp said yesterday in a release. "The Corporation trusts that the bank's comments regarding the historical and cultural importance of Front Street means they will also be revisiting an increase in non-banking retail space on both Front and Reid Streets. When Front Street comes to mind both locally and internationally, its primary significance is the history and design of the buildings and its reputation as a retail shopping area."

The Mayor's statement followed one by HSBC on Wednesday that a proposed seven-storey bank would include "additional Bermudian design elements".

"We say, okay, you can go up six floors, but we are still in the tourist business," Mr. Mapp said yesterday. "You can give us more than 1,500 square feet of retail. The bank has got deep pockets. They do not need tenants to pay a mortgage!"

The Mayor said another of his concerns included traffic increases and parking shortages.

"If they have 1,000 customers in there per day, plus 500 staff there will not be any parking," he said. "There is no underground parking planned for this building.

"Of course HSBC is interested in its bottom line and if it consolidates and moves into one building it can rent out its other buildings," he said.

HSBC has branches in Hamilton alone at Albuoy's Point, Church Street and Compass Point on Par-La-Ville Road.

He said there was ample parking at Compass Point, for example, however, should the bank sell it, all the staff would go over to Front Street where there was no parking.

However, he said he had not heard who might be interested in buying Compass Point, and hoped it did not come to that.

The proposed bank would change the facade of Front Street, he said.

"It would appear that now they have had so many calls ? just like we have had a lot of calls ? that they are backing down a little bit," he said. "We take into account the feelings of Bermudians."

Bank chief executive Philip Butterfield's stated on Wednesday that the plan was not meant to be "fast-tracked" at the Department of Planning and this pleased the Mayor.

"They said they will stand in line like everybody else," he said. "I understand they don't want the building mothballed but they have to have sensitivity for the Street. It is what makes Bermuda unique. We don't have to look like major cities.

"If you stand your ground the bank starts to reflect a little bit," he said.

In addition, the Department of Planning's City of Hamilton Plan 2001 listed banking halls as retail space and defined "retail" as the means of use of an establishment for any of the following purposes ? selling goods, food or drink and banking halls, travel agents and airline ticket agencies that serve the public and generate customer activity.

Mr. Mapp said he knew about the 2001 Plan definition and so did the bank, which explained how it could include retail banking space on Front Street as well as a nominally-sized traditional shop. At the close of business yesterday, the Department of Planning had not received any additional information from the Bank of Bermuda.