REPORT TO PLANNING COMMISSION
SUBJECT
Title
Public Hearing: Recommendation on The Adoption of The Citywide Objective Design Standards for Multi-Family and Residential Mixed-Use Projects into The Santa Clara Zoning Code. CEQA: Addendum to the 2010-2035 General Plan EIR
Report
BACKGROUND
In recent years, the State Legislature has adopted a series of bills to address the state’s housing shortage and high housing costs. For a variety of multifamily and mixed-use residential projects, cities are now required to provide a streamlined ministerial approval process to facilitate and expedite the construction of housing. Laws like the Housing Accountability Act, the Housing Crisis Act (also known as SB 330 (2019)), and SB 35 (2017) expedite the review process for qualifying projects and limit local governments’ authority to impose zoning and design standards that are not “objective” criteria. Both the state statutes and the Guidelines of the California Department of Housing & Community Development (HCD) define “Objective Standards” as “involving no personal or subjective judgment by a public official and . . . uniformly verifiable by reference to an external and uniform benchmark or criterion”. Importantly, the standards once established are applied ministerially.
Policy A-3 of the City’s certified sixth cycle Housing Element is to “Utilize objective design standards to streamline the housing development process.” Currently, architectural review is still required for most residential projects, including multi-family developments, as well as single-family attached developments and developments taller than one story. The development of Objective Design Standards (ODS) will help to clarify the applicable standards and potentially reduce review times.
Since the certification of the Housing Element, Planning staff have undertaken the task of developing ODS for Multi-family Residential and Residential Mixed-Use Projects.
On November 12, 2025, the Planning Commission conducted a Study Session on Objective Design Standards for multi-family and residential mixed-use projects to discuss California Government Code Sections 65913.4 and 65589.5, which mandate that cities utilize only “objective planning standards” related to the project site, land use regulations and project form when reviewing residential development applications eligible for streamlined approval. The session discussed how the term “objective planning standards” was added to the California State Land Use Law (“State Law”) beginning with the passage of Senate Bill 35, as later amended by SB 423. The Staff Report for this Study Session is found in Attachment 4.
According to California Government Code Section 65913.4(a)(5), residential development applications eligible for streamlined approval shall be “consistent with objective zoning standards, objective subdivision standards, and objective design review standards in effect at the time that the development is submitted”. These objective standards must compose of quantitative requirements, numeric thresholds, discrete options, and point-based standards as the criteria must “involve no personal or subjective judgment by a public official”.
Currently, only limited geographic areas of the City (Freedom Circle, Patrick Henry, Lawrence Station, Tasman East, & Downtown) are covered by comprehensive objective standards due to their adopted Specific / Precise Plans, which leaves the rest of the City covered by the limited objective standards found under the various zoning districts of the Zoning Code.
Staff’s approach to develop comprehensive citywide ODS will be implemented in two phases. Phase I takes existing ODS from the Specific and Precise Plans that were already vetted by the community and decision makers and codifies them into the Santa Clara City Code as a separate chapter in the Zoning Code. This will allow the City to maintain a maximum degree of local design control in the short run, and abide by the City’s Housing Element Policy A-3.
Staff received feedback from the Planning Commission on the gaps in the standards. Their feedback is the following:
• More Prescriptive Architectural Standards by Building Type (Multiplex, Courtyard, Mid-Rise, & etc.)
• Enhance Open Space Standards
§ Standards shall give flexibility in how open space is provided
• More Transitional Zone Standards between Building Type
This feedback will be incorporated into Phase II of the workplan.
Phase II will include the use of consultants to assist with developing new ODS and conduct community outreach.
DISCUSSION
As part of the Phase I, the ODS are to be incorporated into the Santa Clara City Code as a separate chapter in the Zoning Code. The standards will be accompanied by graphic illustrations to help interpret the standards. The ODS will address “site”, “building” and “pedestrian-level” design standards of architectural review proposals. These standards would be applicable to new multi-family and residential mixed-use projects and additions to existing multi-family and residential mixed-use projects. The building types affected are townhouses and podium/wrap style buildings.
The following summarizes the subsections of the draft ODS and provides some examples.
Site Design Standards
These standards will create more pedestrian-friendly functional communities through expanded pedestrian access, human-scaled block sizes, and convenient multi-modal connections by regulating:
• Site Access and Layout
o Example: “Locate loading zones and rideshare pick-up / drop-off areas at least 45 feet away from bus stops.”
• Site Organization, Planning, and Design
o Example: “Ensure that corner buildings actively address both streets by having pedestrian entrances on each frontage.”
Building Design Standards
These standards will create human-scaled buildings that blend with their surroundings by regulating:
• Massing
• Example: “Massing Increments as Distinct Buildings. A Podium-Style Building shall appear as distinct buildings when it occupies more than 200 linear feet of street frontage. At minimum, it shall appear as three (3) distinct buildings using massing increments design:
o There shall be differences in facade materials and color between Distinct Buildings
o There shall be differences in the type and composition of facade openings and architectural elements between distinct buildings.
o The building base heights of adjacent Distinct Buildings shall differ by an entire floor.”
• Façade Design
• Example: “The Building’s Base floor shall be differentiated from the rest of the façade whether through a change in material, change in type of opening, belt course, or a combination of these elements.”
• Access & Entrance Design
o Example: “Primary entrances shall feature at least two of the following:
§ Architectural features such as a prominent tower feature or a peaked roof form and/or a variation in building color/materials.
§ Recess or projection.
§ Pedestrian weather protection (i.e. canopy, overhang, or arcade).
§ Streetscape including outdoor patio, integral planters or wing walls that incorporate landscaped areas and/ or places for sitting.”
• Materials
o Example: “Untreated plastics, unfinished metal, corrugated fiberglass and non-architectural grade plywood shall not be used as primary materials”
Pedestrian Level Design Standards
These standards will create an enhance street frontage that promotes pedestrian activity by regulating:
• Ground Floor Retail & Active Uses
o Example: “Ground Floor Retail. Ground floor retail uses shall be at the same grade as the adjacent sidewalk”
• Ground Floor Residential
o Example: “Stoops shall have a minimum five (5)-foot landing depth with room for a table and chairs to provide an opportunity for residents to engage in the social life of the street.”
• Ground Floor Live/ Work
o Example: “Because live/work units are meant to be public facing, they shall be entered at-grade and are not required to be elevated above sidewalk level.”
• Open Space Design
o Example: “Podium - Style buildings shall have privately owned public open space of at least 15 feet wide and 500 square feet in size.”
Proposed Planning Commission Actions
The project is presented to the Planning Commission for consideration and action. The following specific actions are required:
1. CEQA: Recommend that the Council determine that the project is consistent with the 2010-2035 General Plan EIR Addendum adopted on January 31, 2023. This is a quasi-judicial decision, requiring the Commission to determine that the 2023 Addendum addressed the proposed ODS.
2. Zoning Code Amendment: Recommend that the City Council approve the zoning code amendment to incorporate the Citywide Objective Design Standards. This is a legislative action.
The proposed ordinance adopting the ODS is found in Attachment 1 while the body of the Zoning Code Amendment is found in Attachment 2. The Zoning Code Amendment is a new chapter inserted into Title 18 of the Santa Clara City Code.
COMMUNITY OUTREACH
The proposed ODS come from existing standards found in the City of Santa Clara’s Specific / Precise Plans (Freedom Circle, Patrick Henry, Lawrence Station, Tasman East, & Downtown) which have been previously vetted by the community and decision makers and will served as a baseline. These ODS will create consistency across the City for developers of Multi-Family and Residential Mixed-Use Projects. Staff will contact developers, community organizations, and interest groups as part of the community outreach for Phase II.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The adoption of the Citywide Objective Design Standards is an implementation action of the 2023 Housing Element for which the City prepared an Addendum to the 2010-2035 General Plan Environmental Impact Report (EIR). The Addendum indicated that the adoption of the Housing Element, and its implementing actions, would not result in environmental impacts beyond those described in the General Plan Update EIR. At the conclusion of the public hearing on January 26, 2023, the Planning Commission voted to recommend that the City Council approve the Addendum, and on January 31, 2023, the City Council adopted the Addendum. The recommended actions all fall within the scope of the adopted Addendum.
FISCAL IMPACT
Adoption of the Citywide Objective Design Standards would not involve additional resources beyond those indicated at the time of the Zoning Code adoption.
COORDINATION
This item was coordinated with the City Attorney’s Office.
PUBLIC CONTACT
A newspaper notice was published in the December 23, 2025, issue of the Santa Clara Weekly describing the proposed adoption of the Citywide Objective Design Standards.
Public contact was made by posting the Planning Commission agenda on the City’s official-notice bulletin board outside City Hall Council Chambers. A complete agenda packet is available on the City’s website and in the City Clerk’s Office at least 72 hours prior to a Regular Meeting and 24 hours prior to a Special Meeting. A hard copy of any agenda report may be requested by contacting the City Clerk’s Office at (408) 615-2220, email clerk@santaclaraca.gov <mailto:clerk@santaclaraca.gov> or at the public information desk at any City of Santa Clara public library.
RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
1. Recommend that the City Council determine the project to be consistent with the January 31, 2023 Addendum for the 2023 Housing Element pursuant to CEQA; and
2. Recommend that the City Council adopt the Citywide Objective Design Standards ordinance.
Staff
Prepared by: Alex Tellez, Assistant Planner, Community Development Department
Reviewed by: Alexander Abbe, Assistant City Attorney
Approved by: Afshan Hamid, Director of Community Development
ATTACHMENTS
1. Citywide Objective Design Standards Ordinance
2. Proposed Zoning Code Amendment
3. ODS Previous Draft Document
4. Study Session Staff Report