The changes, awaiting ministerial approval, aim to revitalise Kingston in a similar way to Braddon's mixed-use development, by encouraging property owners to either sell or redevelop.

Kingston-Barton Group secretary Rebecca Scouller said so much had changed since a 2009 consultation, residents wanted a fresh round to make sure they had an active role in redevelopment.

''We don't want Kingston to turn into all restaurants and cafes, we'd like to have a mix and variety of shops,'' Ms Scouller said.

''It's not up to the government to drive that, but it is a concern. We know business owners are holding off, waiting for this decision to go through.''

Draft variation 314 to the ACT Territory Plan, the territory's key planning document, scales back an earlier eight-storey proposal, which sparked concerns from surrounding residents about overshadowing and noise.

But Ms Scouller said it was still a big change from the existing single- and two-storey buildings, and the two-storey limit in Manuka. Under the changes, YMCA volunteers in a small opportunity shop in Eyre Street's car park - the site of a new supermarket and other shops - face an uncertain future.

YMCA chief executive Jenny McCombe said since 1961, volunteers had run a shop, initially from a kiosk that was renovated in 1978. Paying a peppercorn rent, they knew they would eventually have to surrender their lease.

''The government has been very supportive. They are not throwing us out,'' she said.

Ms McCombe said she would love to open another shop but it would not be viable if they had to pay

commercial rent rates. Ms Scouller said the opportunity shop was an important part of the community. The ACT government has been asked to find an alternative site.

Several large shops have been vacant for years at the Kingston centre. Colliers International ACT chief executive Paul Powderly said the low-rise development was not coping with parking demands, and the six-storey change struck a good balance for redevelopment.

Mr Powderly said in Braddon 22 per cent of the properties were redeveloped in the first five years of changed planning codes, and more redevelopment is expected to come. Some long-term owners sold up, while others who had arrived about a decade earlier, redeveloped their sites, as did even newer developers.

Braddon now has a six-storey limit, and an eight-storey limit along Northbourne Avenue.

Mr Powderly said once the planning variation was approved, the car park redevelopment would be the first to proceed.

Leases would have to expire in other parts of the centre.

Owners would have to redevelop to comply with licensing and health and safety regulations, and to keep pace with the foreshore's development, Mr Powderly said.