The values of the consents had also increased, with up to $60 million a month being spent on building homes in Tauranga compared with $20m to $40m a month just two years ago.
Tauranga City Council's manager of building services, Patrick Schofield, said the city's development hotspots were centred around the Lakes subdivision and Golden Sands area in Papamoa.
Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick had previously pointed out several areas for possible new housing developments - Collie Dr, Baxendale in Springfield, Pukehangi Rd and the Wharenui block in Rotorua's eastern suburbs.
"There's plenty of land zoned for subdivision with the potential, in total, for more than 1000 lots, depending on landowner and/or developer decisions and any constraints that may apply," she said recently.
Mr Donaldson said there was a lack of subdivisions happening in Rotorua right now, but that meant Rotorua had time to make sure its infrastructure could cope.
"When Tauranga officially became the fifth largest city in New Zealand I thought it would create a lot of issues, especially infrastructure issues.
"But, it's also a completely different demographic. Tauranga is now getting people cashing up to leave Auckland who are looking for a similar climate.
"Tauranga have got a much larger retired community than we have and that creates the need for additional retail, medical centres and the like to service that population growth and I feel that will always be an issue."
He said Rotorua was all about forests and lakes and had a younger at heart community.
"Traffic congestion is a big issue for them to deal with, along with sewerage and other infrastructure.
"I think it's a pointless comparison, we are different communities, and long may that be the case."
Mr Donaldson said growth came at a cost - "funding new infrastructure and looking after the environment as that growth happens".
"I already hear concerns about water availability for the urban sprawl of Tauranga.
"If we had the growth of Tauranga we would have significant infrastructure challenges.
"It's not just a story of growth, it's sustainable growth, quality of lifestyle, an infrastructure keeping pace, and that's not happening in Tauranga, they can't keep up that pace.
"Just look at the congestion at the Hewletts Rd roundabout, Papamoa and Mt Maunganui. And it's just going to get worse."
Tauranga's growth might suggest that builders and tradesmen would be flocking there.
Several Rotorua tradesmen said they preferred to work locally, and some were able to charge higher rates than in Tauranga.
None could think of any builders, electricians or plumbers commuting to Tauranga.
Roy Peden, owner of Dial a Builder in Rotorua, said Tauranga did not tempt him because it was too far to commute. However, before the current building boom, Tauranga tradesmen used to come over to his city to work.
"I've been very busy - especially towards the end of last year," he said.
"I don't have any new builds on at the moment, but I've been doing a lot of renovations and alterations."
Sefton Electrical owner David Sefton said Rotorua tradespeople were busy, and some were able to charge $2 to $3 an hour more locally than they could in Tauranga.
"A lot of guys have woken up to that and have increased their rates," he said.
- Additional reporting Scott McLeod
Approvals for new homes 2016
Rotorua district: 107 consents, for 115 dwellings
Population: 70,500
Dwellings: 27,600
Tauranga city: 1395 consents, for 1641 dwellings
Population: 128,200
Dwellings: 50,000
