Half Moon Bay is beginning to plan its objective design standards for multifamily and mixed-use development in light of state legislation that allows developers building affordable housing that cannot be denied, should it meet those certain city-specific standards.
In a joint session of the Architectural Advisory Committee and the Planning Commission Nov. 12, members talked through the site design and architectural and building standards that new multifamily developments will be required to meet.
Density bonus law could still override certain objective design standards, staff warned, also noting that a recently passed state law will apply Senate Bill 35, a housing approval streamlining process, even to qualifying residential developments in the coastal zone.
Chad Hooker, an Architectural Advisory Committee member, queried if it was possible to create different design standards for affordable multifamily developments and standard multifamily developments, to maintain local height controls.
“If we’re critically worried about height, which I think came to everyone's attention on the 555 Kelly issue, then you begin to think about multifamily design standards regulating to one-story buildings,” he said. “I’m not trying to figure out how to cripple this, but 83 feet is pretty scary.”
In terms of site design, members pointed to affordable parking requirements, higher electric vehicle parking standards and higher bike parking possibilities as relevant criteria. Planning Commissioner Rick Hernandez also pointed to traffic flow as a potential accessibility issue to regulate.
“Some projects are inappropriate because of traffic standards. I don’t know how to apply that, but if we’re looking at accessibility, one of the things we need to have in objective design criteria is something that looks at that whole flow,” he said.
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The group also talked through the importance of color palettes and defining dominant styles of building that large-scale developments could generally decide between, including neoclassical, Spanish revival, contemporary and coastal craftsman.
“I think the concept of going back to palettes and looking at what are the three or four most dominant forms would make it a lot easier for us to have more clear objective criteria for buildings that are more than two stories and have more than three units,” Hernandez said.
For single-family homes, existing design guidelines could be translated into standards, commissioners decided.
This process is just the beginning for design standard development, staff said — the City Council will hold a study session Nov. 19, a Planning Commission public hearing Dec. 10, and a City Council public hearing on Jan. 21, with Coastal Commission certification to be determined.
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