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Neighbors warn Mallard Point changes could weaken city's leverage to deliver affordable units
Summary
Multiple residents told the commission that edits to Mallard Point's conditions, especially to Condition 22, risk delaying or eliminating the four replacement affordable apartments and urged maintaining strict sequencing and enforcement.
A string of neighbors and local advocates told the Planning Commission that the proposed amendments to Mallard Point's conditions of approval risked undercutting the city's leverage to secure the four replacement affordable apartments.
At the public hearing, Susan Clough said the project was granted concessions in exchange for the four affordable units and that permitting after-the-fact changes "undermine the intent of the original conditions of approval." Jim Hornthal said weakening Condition 22 "sets a very dangerous precedent." Several speakers urged the commission to require that the affordable units be completed and available for rent before certificates of occupancy are issued for other private homes.
Technical concerns were raised as well. David Kenneth Smith, a local geologist and BLPOA board member, described subsurface uncertainties in a May 2025 geotechnical report and urged comprehensive geotechnical investigation prior to substantive plan changes. Neighbors repeatedly asked that the replacement apartment building be prioritized and that staff enforce remediation timelines if permits are not obtained.
Commissioners responded by tightening the COA language and adding monitoring expectations; they also adjusted demolition-timing language to be keyed to permit issuance. The commission's motion explicitly referenced the apartment building and its affordable units when specifying the certificate-of-occupancy sequencing.
