Residential Development Design Standards

The Comprehensive Zoning Code Update implements both General Plan policy regarding design standards as well as State Law requirements of SB 330, "Housing Crisis Act of 2019". The Standards have been developed to meet the requirements of "Objective Standard" and are also proposed to provide clarity to builders so there is more certainty in the review process by the City. 

What are Objective Standards?

State law defines objective standards as those that "involve no personal or subjective judgement by a public official and are uniformly verifiably by reference to an external and uniform benchmark or criterion available and knowable by both the development applicant and public official prior to submittal."

The purpose of the objective design standards is to articulate project design requirements for all residential and mixed-use developments. These Standards will be utilized to detail the review process by clearly stating the City of Woodland's objectives for high quality, residential projects that are aesthetically pleasing.  

Why Do We Have to Create Objective Standards?

See the attached abbreviated informative slides shared at the California American Planning Association conference in October 2022.

Information and Resources

American Planning Association ODS Slides (Click here)

Web Links:

Approaches and Considerations for Objective Design Standards (Click here)

SB 330 Housing Crisis Act of 2019 (Click here)