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underground parking, and added construction cost for buildings with additional stories.
<br /> In light of these factors, the professional services team believes a lower building height
<br /> limit (i.e., 55 feet) could be imposed on projects up to 40 du/ac without impacting the
<br /> unit yield, irrespective of whether there is ground floor parking. As previously discussed
<br /> by staff, while not every project will require building to this maximum height, some
<br /> additional flexibility remains warranted to accommodate non-residential ground floor
<br /> uses, "clustering" of density within a site, and for stepbacks and added building
<br /> articulation to be incorporated without impacting unit counts. Accordingly, this change
<br /> has been incorporated into the ODS document prepared for this City Council meeting as
<br /> annotated in the list of revisions below.
<br /> DISCUSSION
<br /> As mentioned in this report, all the proposed modifications are to the January 26, 2023,
<br /> ODS for Housing Sites, which establish the development standards for both the sites
<br /> identified in the 6th Cycle Housing Element and the carryover sites from the 4th and 5th
<br /> Cycle Housing Elements. The 2023 Housing Sites ODS use as their foundation the
<br /> 2012 Housing Sites Design Standards and Guidelines, with updates and refinements to
<br /> ensure standards are objective in nature; to better align to State law; to improve in
<br /> areas where staff, the Planning Commission, and City Council had found the prior
<br /> standards to be lacking or to have delivered less-than-optimal outcomes in actual
<br /> projects; and to reflect standards for projects over 30-40 du/ac.
<br /> The ODS are organized into three principal parts: Introduction, Development Standards,
<br /> and Design Standards:
<br /> • The Introduction provides the purpose of the ODS, relationship to other
<br /> standards and City-adopted policy documents and State law; and indication of
<br /> the review and approval process for projects subject to the ODS.
<br /> • The Development Standards include parameters regarding project density,
<br /> affordability requirements for rental and for-sale units, and site standards such as
<br /> minimum lot width, depth, and minimum yard (i.e., setback), building height,
<br /> bicycle parking/unit storage, and group and private open space ratios.
<br /> • The Design Standards include:
<br /> ■ Part A, Site Design and Planning: circulation, building orientation,
<br /> standards for streets, alleys, and pedestrian paseos, parking standards,
<br /> open space and landscaping requirements, lighting, utility screening
<br /> ■ Part 8, Architectural Features: building massing, entries, window design,
<br /> roofs, materials and character, frontages, proportion and scale, signage,
<br /> and compatibility with surrounding development.
<br /> The appendices include examples of building types, glossary, and permitted non-
<br /> residential uses for mixed-use sites.
<br /> ODS for Housing Sites, Proposed Revisions to ODS since January 2023
<br /> The proposed revisions have been made in response to three major inputs: (1)
<br /> comments provided by developers and applicants during the review and adoption of the
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