McMillan, Acquanette (Netta)
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Monday, December 8, 2025 4:41 PM
PublicComment-AutoResponse
Item #10
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Dear Mayor and City Council members,
We at Making Housing and Community Happen agree with the recommendations of Abundant Housing and staff that we have objective design standards for developments. This will reduce costs for developers and could also reduce the cost of housing.
We encourage your City Council to further strengthen the proposal with some amendments, as recommended by Abundant Housing. To provide flexibility for builders, please provide direction to allow for the following:
Looser restrictions on balconies and allowances for all balconies to protrude more than a mere two feet from the facade Shorter facade lengths, as small as 45 feet, to allow for smaller multifamily buildings, as well as housing on smaller sites and irregular lots
Adjustments to void-to-solid ratio to provide more optionality for spacing between windows; the current language, as written, would likely result in smaller windows for residents More more than two materials and two colors permitted on exterior walls to allow more creative facade designs
A wider range of finish materials that do not prohibit metal or composite materials, like faux wood More pedestrian space—by allowing up to 30% of the building's base to be recessed up to four feet from the setback; this also creates more flexibility for seating, ADA-accessibility features and improvements to the public realm
More options for massing and articulation, such that a facade up to 125 feet in length would have no requirements for breaking;
Please allow breaks with partial openness to the sky, as small as eight feet deep and eight feet wide, as this aligns with the typical construction beam length of eight feet We support the overall objective-design framework and would like to particularly applaud the following provisions in the proposed standards:
Objective, quantifiable, SB 330-compliant rules that provide clear guidelines in accordance with state housing law • Streamlined design review to make housing approvals more expeditious and predictable for developers who opt in to the program Clear two-typology system with two pathways, with different designs to choose from
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Item 8
Flexible sustainability compliance and incentives to allow for rooftop gardens, which will provide a valuable greenspace for resident
We appreciate the Council's efforts to comply with state law and to facilitate development in our city, especially the development of affordable housing.
Anthony Manousos
Co-Founder of Making Housing and Community Happen
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