REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Approve Design Guidelines for Multi-Family Residential Projects to Address Size, Bulk and Scale; Find that the Project is Exempt Under CEQA Pursuant to Guideline 15061(b)(3). (Study Issue original title: City Policies Governing Housing Density)
Report
REPORT IN BRIEF
This report addresses a Council Study Issue titled "Review City Policies Governing Housing Density and Bonus Density Calculations (Study Issue Paper, Attachment 1). The study considers criteria used to review higher density residential projects. Currently, planning review of multi-family residential projects includes density (dwelling units per acre), zoning regulations and various design guidelines. The City Council ranked this study issue high in order to determine if other reasonable methods are available to better evaluate and guide the design of new multi-family residential developments.
In completing this study issue, staff concluded that finding an ideal planning tool to regulate the size, bulk and scale of multi-family residential projects is problematic. Every tool used is useful, but has limited applicability. For instance, zoning standards (height limits, setback standards, or lot coverage) do not ensure a building will be appropriately designed. Density provides information about the number of dwelling units a project has, but does not necessarily provide a good indicator of a project's physical size. Floor area ratio (FAR) standards are effective for office and industrial projects, but are difficult to apply to multi-family residential projects because of the variation in product types (apartments, ownership, townhouses, stacked condominiums). Specific design guidelines provide the best guidance for mitigating the size, bulk and scale of projects, but must be used in concert with other zoning tools, such as zoning regulations and density.
This study focuses on two approaches:
1. Adopt new high density multi-family design guidelines (...
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