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Ojai officials discuss objective design standards, state limits on local control for affordable housing
Summary
At a June 24 joint meeting, the City Council and Planning Commission discussed drafting objective design standards for multifamily affordable housing to satisfy the city's housing element obligations, while staff and legal counsel warned state law narrows local discretion for parking, height and density incentives.
Ojai officials and planning staff on Tuesday discussed drafting objective, measurable design standards for multifamily and mixed-use affordable housing projects to meet the city's housing element obligations and state requirements.
The conversation centered on how to write objective, numeric standards that HCD (California Department of Housing and Community Development) and state law expect for housing projects that qualify for density bonus protections. "The state's looking for, in their words, mathematical standards. It can't require looking," Director Lucas Seibert said, describing the level of specificity HCD seeks.
Why it matters: objective standards shift some project reviews from discretionary to ministerial when projects meet affordability thresholds, reducing city-level design discretion. Commissioners and council members said they want guardrails that express local preferences (height, materials, setbacks, "mission"-style elements) but…
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