Tiburon Town Council grants six-month extension for Las Lomas house, will prorate permit penalty

At its Sept. 3 meeting, the Tiburon Town Council approved a six-month extension for the building permit at 131 Las Lomas Lane and directed staff to impose the full penalty fee outlined in town code but prorate and refund part of that fee if the project is completed before the new deadline.

Interim community development director Neil Toff told the council the permit was originally issued in June 2022 and has already received several extensions beyond the 18-month limit in the municipal code. "The fee for extending the permit would be $68,690," Toff said, adding that the building official had exhausted the authority granted under code and that a fourth extension must be approved by the council.

The applicant, property owner Nuri Dadiran, told the council the work on the new roughly 2,600-square-foot home was largely complete and that delays stemmed from demolition, installing a complex foundation on a steep, narrow parcel and lengthy waits for final sign-offs from outside agencies. "We are very eager to see the completion and approval of the final inspection so we can move in to the property," Dadiran said, adding that much of the remaining work involved minor compliance items and agency approvals.

Why this matters: Tiburon’s municipal code sets an 18-month completion window for projects of this scale, allows one automatic six-month extension and authorizes the building official to approve additional extensions with penalties. The code prescribes a penalty equal to five times the permit fee for a fourth extension, but the council has discretion to reduce or waive that fee; staff recommended a prorated-fee approach tied to early completion as a practical incentive.

Council discussion focused on precedent and fairness. Several council members said they favored granting the extension and using the prorating approach the council has applied in similar recent cases because it encourages timely completion while recognizing circumstances such as extensive demolition and weather delays. One council member noted the project had generated few neighbor complaints, which weighed in favor of relief.

Council action: A motion that the council impose the full fee amount but prorate the fee based on the time to finalization and grant the six-month extension carried unanimously. The recorded vote showed three members present and voting in favor; two members were absent. Staff will prepare the implementing language for a resolution or minute action at a subsequent meeting and collect the prorated fee according to the schedule the council approved.

Staff noted the permit’s most recent prior extension expired June 29, 2025, and that, according to the owner, framing did not begin until 2024. Toff also said staff had received very few complaints about the project to date. The owner told the council he had spent several weeks obtaining final sign-offs from the fire department, sanitation and CalGreen reviews before requesting final inspection.