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Since the self-guided tour earlier this year, and in preparation for the current (6th Cycle) Housing Element update, staff and the VMWP team has been working on revising the 2012 Housing DG. Two documents are enclosed with this report, a redline version showing the proposed modifications to the 2012 Housing DG (Exhibit A) using strikeout and underline text, and for ease of review and reading, a version that incorporates these changes (Exhibit B). The Planning Commission may wish to focus its review on the "clean" version (Exhibit B), which is more readable, with reference back to Exhibit A (redline version) to understand the nature of specific changes made to a particular standard or guideline. Changes to Housing Site Development Standards and Design Guidelines Key highlights of proposed changes are summarized below. As noted, the majority of these changes have been introduced to provide a quantified, objective standards in the place of what are currently subjective guidelines. In other areas, standards have been strengthened or augmented to address deficiencies or gaps in the existing Housing DG. Part 1 (Introduction), Part 2 (PUD Regulations), and Part 4 (Process) At this time, no changes are proposed to the Introduction (inclusive of the purpose and vision statement), PUD Regulations3 and Process sections of the document since the focus of the current update is technical in nature. Staff expects, however, that a future draft of the document will modify wording regarding review and procedure of projects subject to the objective design standards, as appropriate to comply with applicable provisions of state law. Changes to the technical aspects of Part 2, PUD Regulations, are summarized as follows: • Rear yard setback for accessory structures. The proposed amendments indicate a rear setback of five feet for accessory structures such as trash enclosures, carports, bike storage, and other allowed accessory structures, where no rear setback was previously established. • Reference to AB 2923 for the BART site and State Density Bonus. Assembly Bill (AB) 2923, adopted in 2018, establishes a minimum density of 75 dwelling units per acre and a minimum of five stories, among other standards, for BART-owned property. Therefore, the revisions to the Housing DG refer to AB 2923 in the sections that refer to density and height for the BART site. Similarly, the density noted in Table 2.1 is proposed to be footnoted to indicate that the notated density may be exceeded in accordance with the State Density Bonus for a qualified project, consistent with state law. • Group usable open space. The proposed amendments would establish a tiered standard for group usable open space, depending on project density. For projects up to 40 dwelling units per acre, the existing group usable open space requirement of 300 square feet per dwelling unit would remain, but as an option, the proposed amendments would allow 250 square feet per unit of group usable open space if the project provides a public plaza or park with dedicated public access — effectively an incentive to provide publicly-accessible open space. The amendments would establish a ratio of 250 square feet and 200 square feet of group usable open space per unit for projects of densities 3 Changes are in fact proposed to the development standards cited in the PUD Regulations section of the document, as discussed in this report P20-0989, Objective Design Standards Planning Commission 6 of 14 lack of P20-0989, Objective Design Standards Planning Commission 4of14 tive Design Standards Planning Commission 3 of 14