Plans to double the size of Bermuda?s only shopping mall have been rejected by the Development Applications Board (DAB).

However, Washington Properties general manager Paul Slaughter said yesterday he is going to appeal the decision to the Minister of the Environment.

?We are not surprised by the decision of the DAB,? Mr. Slaughter said. ?We were advised the application would be turned down because the roof space was considered an extra storey.?

Roof top apartments were planned on top of the new Washington Mall.

The DAB refused the application to build a five-storey, mixed use office, retail and residential building on No?s 16, 18 and 20 Church Street and No. 7 Reid Street because it had too many storeys.

The DAB also refused the plan because, even though the area is within a restricted parking zone, Washington Properties wanted an additional ten parking spaces which DAB said would increase traffic congestion.

The proposed expansion to the existing mall would include 125,000 square feet of rent-able space, with four floors of offices and two floors of retail.