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projects. Key among many of these new laws is that City review is to be limited solely to conformance with objective design standards. 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 multifamily zones, including within 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 and City Council review, input, and recommendation on draft ODS in December 2022 and January 2023. April 12, 2023, Planning Commission Meeting At its April 12, 2023, meeting, the Planning Commission recommended the City Council adopt the modifications to the ODS for Housing Sites, with a similar request from its January 11 meeting: that the height limit for projects 30 du/ac and greater be reconsidered to be less than the currently permitted 65-foot maximum, particularly if there is no vehicular parking on the ground floor level. For the January 26, 2023, City Council meeting, staff had recommended not providing this "tiered" height upon consideration and review of recently constructed projects built in the 30 du/ac range, since many projects will distribute or mix the density on a given site, meaning some areas of the site that are, for example, setback from existing residents, could be less tall whereas other areas of the site could be denser and taller'. Another consideration was the inclusion of podium parking or desired ground floor commercial uses, which would occupy the ground floor and could require additional height to accommodate the residential units above. After the Planning Commission's request on April 12, staff and the professional services team reconsidered the height for projects greater than 30 du/ac. When contemplating proposed unit counts, developers consider a number of competing factors including value of the unit produced versus the cost of providing necessary parking for those units, particularly structured or An example is the Vintage project, which mixed densities with some denser/taller portions (over 50 feet) and some lower density/lower height components, while maintaining an overall average density of 30 d u/ac. Page 3 of 11