Objective Design Standards

The Objective Design Standards Resolution has been adopted.

On Tuesday, November 15, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. the Town Council voted to adopt the resolution with the following modifications:

Accept changes recommended by the Planning Commission, Change the document title to "Object Design Standards for Qualifying Multi-Family and Residential Mixed-Use Developments," slightly modify the wording used in Standard A.10.1(b), remove the requirement for Townhomes or Rowhouses to have no more than six (6) contiguous units in any single building, and add a requirement for high quality bicycle parking in conformance with the VTA bicycle Technical Guidelines.

Summary

The Town of Los Gatos is developing objective design standards for the review of multi-family housing and mixed-use development applications. This effort is in response to State legislation requiring jurisdictions to adopt objective standards and to implement them in a streamlined review of qualifying housing projects.

What Are Objective Design Standards?

Objective design standards are defined under State law as “standards that involve no personal or subjective judgement by a public official and are uniformly verifiable by reference to an external and uniform benchmark or criterion available and knowable by both the development applicant or proponent and the public official prior to submittal” (California Government Code, Section 65913.4).

Objective design standards are a powerful tool that allow communities to respond to State housing laws that are reducing local control of development. They provide an opportunity to ensure that the appearance of new development is compatible with the Town’s vision.