Lafayette planning commission backs revisions to objective design standards, directs staff to add pitched‑roof and imagery changes

The Lafayette Planning Commission voted 4–0 to direct staff to update the city’s draft phase‑2 objective design standards (ODS) and forward the revised document to city council with a recommendation of approval after a two‑hour public hearing and discussion.

Senior Planner Arleigh Cassidy opened the hearing by saying the ODS are intended to provide objective, ministerial design rules that streamline review of multifamily and mixed‑use projects under state law (SB 35). "The intent of creating objective standards is that they are very hard and fast," Cassidy said, explaining the standards are meant to be answered "yes or no" so applicants and staff reach consistent determinations.

Consultants Monica Sidlick and Cal Kurtz of Lisa Wise Consulting briefly recapped work done over the past year — including rezoning tied to the housing element, DRC working‑group meetings and an open house — and summarized the draft standards covering massing, vertical and horizontal articulation, fenestration thresholds, permitted materials and palette, and site design elements such as parking screening and connections to creeks and…