Municipal Code Update:
Objective Design Standards
1 City Council
Item 7.2
November 14, 2023
State & Local Compliance
State Legislation for Streamlined Housing
Production -> Ministerial Review
• SB 35 (2017)
• SB 330 (2019)
• SB 6 (2022)
• AB 2011 (2022)
Housing Element Implementation
SB2 – Local Early Action Plan
(LEAP) Grant Funding
Definition – Context
Definition of “Objective
Standards”
“Objective standards” are those that involve “no
personal or subjective judgment by a public official”
and are “uniformly verifiable by reference to an
external and uniform benchmark or criterion
available…”
Project Applicability
1. 100-percent affordable housing
2. Mixed-Income (affordable & market-rate)
3. Mixed-Use Projects, providing
commercial and affordable units
Projects must also meet additional
requirements under the
Government Code and Housing Bills.
Design vs. Development Standards
Objective Development Standards
(Municipal Code regulations =
height, lot coverage, floor area
ratio)
Objective Design Standards
(e.g. Architecture, landscaping,
lighting)
All streamlined housing projects
must follow all objective standards.
Proposed Standards
CVMC Section 19.58.460:
• Project Design (Architecture, feature orientation,
walkways, etc.)
• Private and Common Open Space
• Landscaping
• Lighting
• Parking
• Walls and Fences
• Trash Collection/Storage
Stakeholder Engagement
Development Oversight Committee
• Convened on July 19, 2023;
approved of changes
Planning Commission
• Approved unanimously
on October 11, 2023
Internal Stakeholders
• Fire, Landscape Architecture, Land Development,
and Building
RECOMMENDATION
Adopt the Ordinance approving the
addition of Municipal Code section
19.58.460 regarding objective design
standards.