Cupertino planning commission asks staff to return with draft objective design standards for multifamily housing

The Cupertino Planning Commission on Oct. 28 reviewed sample objective design standards (ODS) for new multifamily and residential mixed‑use development and asked staff to return with an administrative draft for Commission review before the matter goes to the City Council.

The discussion, led by Chair Rau and consultants from PlaceWorks, reviewed ODS examples from Sunnyvale, San Mateo, Palo Alto, Foster City and Los Gatos. Greg Goodfellow, a PlaceWorks consultant, summarized formats cities use — standalone manuals, code‑embedded standards and tools such as tabular metrics, 2D/3D diagrams and point‑based scoring. “What we want to do tonight is actually, as Luke said, revisit the history of the project… and then talk about some of those sample objective standards packages,” Goodfellow said.

Why it matters: state housing laws and the density‑bonus framework can allow developers to waive local standards when a project includes affordable units. Commissioners and PlaceWorks staff debated how much practical effect ODS will have on projects that are able to use state density‑bonus provisions to opt out or obtain waivers. Goodfellow said the…