Belvedere housing development revised after community input
Story poles for the Mallard Pointe development proposal stand among homes on Mallard Road near Belvedere Park in Belvedere on Friday, Nov. 17, 2023. (Alan Dep/Marin Independent Journal)
By KRISSY WAITE | kwaite@marinij.com | Marin Independent Journal – March 16, 2024
A controversial housing development in Belvedere is undergoing another edit in response to community concerns.
Developers of the Mallard Pointe project have submitted an alternative design to the city. The new design is in response to community and city feedback that the proposed apartment building is too big, according to developers Thompson Dorfman Partners.
“We really like this alternative plan, but at the same time we also feel strongly that the original submission that we are basing this plan on with the larger apartment building would also work quite well, so we’re hopeful that the planning commission can recommend one or the other plan at the hearing on Tuesday,” said Bruce Dorfman, a partner with Thompson Dorfman Partners.
The Mallard Pointe project has been under scrutiny since November 2023, when the Planning Commission went against staff advice to approve the project and voted to require an environmental review. In January 2024, the City Council overturned the commission’s decision in an appeal hearing.
The alternative design keeps the planned 40 units throughout the housing site, but the length and mass of the apartment building is reduced by nearly half. Instead, it will be a 15-unit, three-story apartment building with 10 townhomes, four duplexes, six single-family homes and one accessory dwelling unit.
Dorfman said the group has received input from the city and community leaders. The majority of the negative feedback was focused the overall size of the apartment building.
“Having apartments is actually a good product for this location and for this community,” Dorfman said. “We’ve heard repeatedly that you have a number of local residents who live up in the hills and want to live in the flat, that stairs are an issue. So those residents can downsize and move into somewhere where they don’t have to go upstairs, and they can live in an area that is much more pedestrian friendly.”