Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Use topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commission reviews draft objective design standards for multifamily projects
Summary
Consultants presented a working draft of objective design standards to guide multifamily development in Upland’s RM zones, focusing on measurable, ministerial criteria for building placement, entries, façade articulation, stepbacks near single‑family lots, open space and utility screening; commissioners provided feedback for revisions.
Consultants from Michael Baker International presented a working draft of objective design standards (ODS) to the Planning Commission on June 17, describing how the standards would apply to multifamily zones and provide clear, measurable criteria for ministerial review under recent state law.
Project manager Cameron Savoie and senior designer Valerie Clark explained the ODS intent: to create measurable, verifiable standards that avoid subjective judgment by staff while improving design quality. Examples included ground‑floor unit entries visible from the sidewalk, building frontage length limits (generally not to exceed 80 feet without specific courtyard or opening treatments and an absolute maximum of 150 feet), façade articulation requirements (use two or more horizontal articulation methods at specified intervals), and neighborhood transition measures such as stepbacks and landscape buffers adjacent to single‑family properties.
Clark walked through examples used to inform the draft standards (Montclair and Claremont projects) and described recommended site‑planning approaches: parking and garage access away from primary street frontages, internal courtyards and paseos, and requirements for common and private open space amenities. Savoie noted the draft includes a small number of allowed ministerial deviations (up to three exceptions reviewed by the community development director) with limits on how much a project may deviate from a standard (generally no more than 10% per standard).
Commissioners focused questions on how ODS apply to existing multifamily zones vs. specific plans, the treatment of trash enclosures and roof‑mounted equipment, whether stepbacks should be expressed as a stepback or a setback measurement, and how standards interact with parking and guest‑parking expectations. Staff confirmed that the ODS supplement existing zoning requirements for open‑space ratios and parking and that specific plans may carry different standards.
Commissioners and consultants agreed to specific follow‑up and refinement, including clearer language around stepbacks adjacent to single‑family parcels, clarifying where mixed‑use or downtown special districts might need tailored provisions, and ensuring trash and service enclosures meet water‑quality and screening requirements. The consultants will revise the draft for return to the commission in August and plan fall adoption hearings.
