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P20-0989, Objective Design Standards Planning Commission 3 of 12 The strategy used to develop the ODS included several key inputs, including the following: • Evaluation of existing development standards and guidelines, including those embedded in the 2012 Housing Standards and Guidelines, Pleasanton Municipal Code, Downtown Specific Plan and Design Guidelines. • Identification of gaps in existing regulations, and areas where modifications were needed to translate non-objective standards to objective standards. • Presentation to and feedback from Planning Commission on residential design “best practices” and opportunities for improvement in current projects. • A review/evaluation of recent residential projects in Pleasanton, including sites under the 2012 Standards and Guidelines, and within existing multi-family zones, including within the downtown; please see self-guided tour discussion below. • Development of “test fits” to model draft standards on conceptual sites, and to ensure that standards would allow proposed densities to be achieved and for projects to be feasible. • Planning Commission review and input on draft and final ODS. As noted, the Planning Commission provided early input on the factors that helped refine and expand the ODS, outlined in more detail below. Design Training, January 2019 The Planning Commission participated in a design training led by VMWP in January 2019 that focused on critical issues and best practices for project review, including site planning, design concepts and architectural design considerations for both larger-scale and smaller-scale infill projects. As part of the exercise, VMWP provided a critique of recent projects in Pleasanton. This critique generally found that most projects had met the goal and intent of the 2012 Housing Site Development Standards and Design Guidelines and were generally well-designed and livable projects, a point of view with which the Commission concurred. However, VWMP did note a few areas of possible improvement in some projects, such as paying more attention to transitions/interface between commercial and residential portions of mixed-use projects, upholding the hierarchy of streets and thoroughfares that was compromised in some instances, and recognizing tradeoffs in site planning, vehicular parking, and range of unit types and densities. As part of the design training, the Commission requested and VMWP provided information on design best practices for projects greater than 30-40 du/ac, which at the time reflected the highest density that was zoned or had been constructed in Pleasanton. Looking at examples from successful projects in some South Bay communities, higher density buildings with appropriate massing and design were shown to be able to “fit” into many different locations and local contexts; provide more efficient parking and better provision of open space (through structured vs. surface parking); and provide a relatively more land-efficient way to address housing needs. The Commission was supportive of considering higher density development in the (then) forthcoming Housing Element update, with appropriate design controls, as part of the City’s strategy to accommodate the RHNA. Self-Guided Tour, January 2021 As part of the effort related to objective standards, the Planning Commission and members of the public were invited to participate in a self-guided tour of recently constructed projects