Title
Objective Design Review Standards Study Session. The Planning Board will hold a study session to review and discuss the most recently adopted City of Alameda Objective Design Review Standards. Environmental Determination: Consideration of objective standards for design review is exempt from CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Sections 15061(b)(3), the common sense exception that CEQA applies only to projects that have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment, and Section 15183, projects consistent with a community plan, general plan or zoning
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To: Honorable President and Members of the Planning Board
BACKGROUND
In recent years, a number of new California laws have mandated that local agencies apply only objective design standards rather than subjective design guidelines to the review and approval of housing development projects. The use of objective standards is intended to streamline the review and approval of much-needed housing in the state. Objective standards are defined under state law as "standards that involve no personal or subjective judgment 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 before submittal" (Government Code Section 65913.4(a)(5)).
In 2020 and 2021, the Planning Board adopted and then revised a set of objective standards for multi-family residential and mixed-use development projects:
https://www.alamedaca.gov/files/assets/public/departments/alameda/building-planning-transportation/planning/objective-design-review-standards-adopted-2.22.21-with-formatting-revisions.pdf
In December 2021, the Planning Board adopted a separate set of objective standards for one- and two-family residential projects under SB 9:
https://www.alamedaca.gov/files/assets/public/departments/alameda/building-planning-transportation/planning/adopted-objecti...
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