Court: Belvedere must redo $300k construction-penalty decision

A Marin Superior Court judge has ordered the Belvedere City Council to reconsider its decision to impose a $300,000 construction time-limit penalty on the owner of a luxury home-remodel project, ruling that its findings were inadequate to support the fine.

Judge Andrew E. Sweet issued the ruling May 27 in the case involving 339 Golden Gate Ave. homeowners David and Julie Flaherty, who sued the city in October 2022 as Golden Gate Belvedere LLC. The court found that the Belvedere’s decision-making process lacked sufficient factual findings to justify upholding the maximum penalty and remanded the matter back to the council while retaining jurisdiction over the case.

“The lack of any subfindings leaves fundamental questions about the basis for the city’s decision unanswered,” Sweet wrote in his 23-page ruling. “The court is at a loss as to how to test the city’s findings against the evidence, given that the findings provide no information about what evidence played a role in the city’s decision.”

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