Belvedere balking at key requests in Mallard Pointe proposal

While Belvedere has now deemed the revised application for the 42-unit Mallard Pointe redevelopment project complete, the city has delivered an early roadmap of obstacles for the proposal, setting up a potential battle over key waivers on which the plans ultimately rely.

Filed at the city’s June 23 deadline, Director of Planning and Building Irene Borba’s letter of completeness — an otherwise routine document that acknowledges the city’s received all the required application forms — said the project as submitted isn’t eligible for a state density bonus because it doesn’t have enough affordable housing. Developer Mallard Pointe 1951 LLC, an affiliate of Mill Valley-based Thompson Dorfman Partners LLC, isn’t seeking more density than otherwise allowed, but it does want other waivers that come with the bonus, primarily for height and setbacks, reduced parking — and the ability to put an apartment complex in an R-2 zone.

The proposal for the private Mallard Road complex, which sits on 2.84 acres across from City Hall, is to replace the existing 22 market-rate units across nine duplexes and a fourplex. Redevelopment would create a 42-unit complex featuring five duplexes and six single-family homes along the Belvedere Lagoon, three of which would have accessory dwelling units and be sold privately at market rate, and a 23-unit apartment building in the residential island along Community Road featuring two stories of living units over a partially subterranean garage, with rooftop access via elevator and stairwell structures atop the building. The 20 net new units would count toward Belvedere’s Regional Housing Needs Assessment requirements.

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