Belvedere commission delays decision on closing building loopholes in floodplain

A push to tighten loopholes in Belvedere’s floodplain construction policies hit a speed bump after lagoon residents urged city officials to “go slower” with the changes and solicit more feedback from the community. After nearly three hours of deliberation at a Sept. 22 meeting, the Planning Commission voted unanimously to continue its discussion of proposed options, including requiring third-party appraisals to crosscheck questionable assessments, changing the window of time between “phased” projects and using a $493 per-square-foot multiplier to estimate construction costs. A subcommittee has been weighing such changes after concerns were raised last year that lagoon homeowners are able to dodge federal mandates when completing a construction project by submitting inflated appraisals or undervalued construction costs — which could threaten insurance for the entire city.

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