Commission holds work session on 2024 comprehensive plan, housing diversity and design guidelines

Olivette City staff presented a work-session overview of the 2024 comprehensive plan and commissioners discussed how the plan’s guiding principles should shape future reviews and permit conditions.

Carlos Trejo, director of Planning and Community Development, summarized the plan's guiding principles—high-quality housing, a connected and safe transportation network, reliable infrastructure, economic development and environmental sustainability—and said the City Council will review those guiding principles at a forthcoming workshop. ‘‘Anytime that we present before the commission or we propose any amendments, we should be going back to these and showing to the commission how these help push these goals,’’ Trejo said.

Commissioners raised concerns about repetitive 'spec' housing and whether the commission can push developers toward more varied floor plans and materials. Staff noted the city adopted design standards as guidelines in 2006, revised them later, and uses a checklist to evaluate proposals. "We have the tools to push diversity in design," a staffer said, and offered to compile photos and a spreadsheet of the nine new homes approved between August 2024 and August 2025 for the commission’s next meeting.

Members discussed potential mechanisms—streetscape requirements or limiting the percentage of identical floor plans within a subdivision—to encourage architectural variety. Staff said such options and neighborhood-level expectations used by nearby municipalities will be explored and the commission should expect targeted workshops to go through plan sections in more detail.

The presentation was intended as an informational work-session; no formal votes were taken on plan amendments.