As far as Atherton officials are concerned, it doesn’t matter how opulent the mansion might be, it shouldn’t take more than seven years to build.
A home that took 87 months to complete was the longest-running construction project the town has seen in the past 10 years, according to a town staff analysis of 804 building permits.
But if any future builders expect to take that long, it may cost them. The Atherton City Council at its April 19 meeting cast a unanimous vote in favor of levying expensive fines on overlong construction projects and introduced an ordinance that would put a three-year limit on even the largest residential projects.
In recent months, the council has been addressing construction-related issues ranging from parking problems and noise to drainage and run-off woes. Interminable construction projects are an ongoing complaint in Atherton.
The new rules would require all new building construction, remodeling and renovation projects to be completed in one year, two years or three years, depending on the square footage involved.
“I was surprised to see that even very large homes, for the most part, were done in 36 months,” said Atherton Building Official Mike Hood, who estimated that 90 to 95 percent of building projects in town finish up in less than three years.
Projects that exceed the time limits would be given a 30-day grace period, but after that daily fines start at $200, increasing to $400 after two months; they escalate to $1,000 a day when projects go 121 days beyond the time limit. The maximum fine is capped at $250,000.
“One of the comments from the other jurisdictions is that the penalties have to be significant in order to be noticed,” said Lisa Costa Sanders, the deputy town planner.
The fines may be appealed to the Planning Commission once the project is completed.
“Basically, with spec homes, (the builders) get it done, but homeowners waffling on the design are taking a long time,” said Mayor Charles Marsala.
The council must vote a second time at another meeting in order to pass the new regulation, which is based on similar ordinances in Tiburon, Belvedere and Hillsborough.
