Newark planning commissioners review draft Objective Design Standards to speed housing approvals

The Newark Planning Commission on April 2026 heard a detailed study session on draft Objective Design Standards intended to replace subjective design guidelines with measurable rules to speed housing approvals and improve predictability. Carmelissa Lopez, senior planner with the Community Development Department, led the presentation and said the draft standards were posted for public review March 27 through April 17.

The standards would codify what projects must meet at the outset of review, Lopez said, distinguishing "development standards" (measurable thresholds such as height, setbacks and parking) from "design standards" (facade articulation, massing) and translating the latter into objective criteria.

"Objective standards frontload the discretionary process to the very beginning and by being objective aim to complete design review faster," Michael Kulump, the city’s housing policy and programs manager, told commissioners. He cited a RAND Center report staff summarized, saying longer discretionary review timelines are correlated with higher costs: the report suggested California projects take roughly 22 months longer than comparable projects in Texas, and that shortening timelines could reduce total development costs by about 8%, roughly $30,000 per unit in the study’s example.

The draft would create a new…