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Duarte council adopts objective design standards, then reconvenes to correct procedural language
Summary
The Duarte City Council voted to adopt citywide objective design standards to preserve local design quality for multifamily and mixed‑use housing under state streamlining laws and later reconvened to amend resolution language replacing references to a "public hearing" with "public meeting."
The Duarte City Council on a unanimous vote adopted a set of citywide objective design standards intended to preserve local design quality for multifamily and mixed‑use housing projects while complying with state streamlining laws.
Planning Manager Alvaro Gomez and Phil Burns of the Arroyo Group told the council the standards replace subjective design review with clear, measurable requirements — for example, specific front setbacks, ground‑floor heights and upper‑floor stepbacks — that can be verified before project submittal. "An objective design standard is a regulation that is clear and measurable, involves no personal or subjective judgment," Burns said.
The staff presentation said the standards apply to new residential developments with two or more units, qualifying mixed‑use projects, multifamily ADUs and other projects covered by state streamlining, and were developed through a regional process funded by the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments and SCAG's REAP 2 program. Gomez said the rules are meant to set a minimum floor for design quality and reduce the risk of low‑quality, "boxy" projects. "It establishes a required floor for design quality," he said.
Council members pressed staff on whether the rules would lock in a single architectural style. Burns and Gomez repeatedly said the standards do not prescribe architectural style and that compliance can be achieved through a variety of design strategies. "There are no standards related to architectural style," Burns said. If a project cannot meet the objective standards, it can pursue a plan development permit and public hearing process, staff said.
After the initial motion to adopt Resolution 26‑17 passed, the city attorney requested the council reconvene to correct the resolution's wording, removing three references that mistakenly called the item a "public hearing." The council voted to reconsider and then adopted the resolution with the edits.
What happens next: staff said the standards will be posted and used to evaluate future qualifying projects; deviations from the standards will proceed through the plan development permit process and public hearing before the planning commission.
