Davis, CA – The city of Davis is looking to implement Objective Design Standards which would used to evaluate qualified residential projects rather than going through the standard Design Review process.
City staff notes that recent legislation enacted by the state has eliminated cities’ ability to require “design review for certain qualified affordable housing programs.”
However, the legislation does permit cities to adopt a set of Objective Design Standards that would be used to evaluate qualified affordable housing projects
Staff became aware “that there is no real enabling legislation in the Davis Municipal Code for the ministerial review process required by state law and for the adoption of the objective design standards.” Staff has thus drafted up an ordinance that “that all projects that may be approved through a ministerial process shall comply with the adopted Citywide Design Guidelines.”
This ordinance, staff clarified will affect “any ministerial process in affect today, such as required by SB 35, or any the State of California puts into place in the future.”
By objective in this case, the city defines it to mean “there is no judgement or discretion when applying the provision to a proposed project; the project either meets the standard, or it does not.”
There are twelve separate subject matter sections that make up the objective design standards, with 61 specific design features listed therein.
These include: site plan, parking and circulation, fencing and walls, waste enclosures, exterior lighting, streets, fire safety, architecture including building and massing, the roof, mechanical equipment, and downspouts.
Staff notes, “While parking is no longer a requirement in almost all of Davis, there will in all likelihood still be some vehicular parking provided in most projects. Therefore, the standards included in Section B will address those needs. Issues related to paving features, gating, emergency access, screening, design standards, planter dimensions, and grading in tree dripline prohibitions are included.”
Staff concluded, “Staff believes that when applied in totality, these standards will produce a building design that meets the requirements of the Architectural and Site plan review provisions.”
The building and massing portion has been critical in previous developments.
Staff notes, “Architectural design features are probably the most difficult element to standardize. With the help of the city attorney, staff has taken the type of design features often considered by the Davis decisionmakers when approving a project and written standards to implement those features as requirements.”
Importantly, “Staff is recommending offsets in the building elevation planes to provide interest of the building design. These offsets would occur along the length of a building at every 40 feet or portion thereof.
“Additionally, all buildings taller than 20 feet in vertical height will be stepped back a minimum of 8 feet from the vertical plane for the third and fourth floors and a grand total of 16 feet from the vertical plane of the first floor for all floors above the fourth floor.”
Staff also determined that the ordinance itself would not constitute a project under CEQA and therefore would not require a separate CEQA review.
Staff is recommending council introduce an ordinance that would establish Citywide Objective Design Standards for Qualifying Mixed-Use and Multi-Family Housing Developments and Making a Determination of Exemption under CEQA.
