Mallard Pointe gets time extension, but Belvedere rule on affordable housing stands

The Belvedere Planning Commission granted the Mallard Pointe developer a one-year extension and longer demolition window but refused to weaken the city’s strongest tool for ensuring four affordable apartments get built: requiring those units receive certificates of occupancy before or at the same time as any market-rate homes.

The 40-unit project at 1-22 Mallard Road, from Mill Valley-based Thompson Dorfman Partners LLC as Mallard Pointe 1951 LLC, would replace 22 existing apartments with a mix of an apartment building, townhomes, duplexes and single-family homes. Four apartments must be affordable to low- and very low-income households under state law.

Commissioners extended the design review approval deadline from March 19, 2026, to March 19, 2027, with corresponding extensions for later milestones. They also lengthened the demolition window from 45 to 75 days, measured from permit issuance rather than when demolition equipment appears on site.

But they rejected developer requests to allow market-rate units in phase one to receive occupancy permits before the apartment building containing affordable units is complete — the central dispute of the evening.

Four days after the commission’s approval, principal Bruce Dorfman said in a Feb. 6 email that residents have been issued notice that relocation will be required within 180 days, targeting an August construction start that will include demolition, bulkhead replacement and installation of new utilities, roadways and sidewalks.

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