HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-08-29; City Council; Resolution 2023-229RESOLUTION NO. 2023-229
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CARLSBAD,
CALIFORNIA, AMENDING CITY COUNCIL POLICY NO. 44 TO ACHIEVE
CONSISTENCY WITH CURRENT STATE REGULATIONS THAT REQUIRE
OBJECTIVE DESIGN STANDARDS
CASE NAME: CITYWIDE OBJECTIVE DESIGN STANDARDS
CASE NO: ZCA 2020-0003, LCPA 2020-0007, PUB 2020-0004
WHEREAS, Section 65589.5 of the California Government Code requires cities and counties
approve or deny eligible housing development projects based on objective regulatory standards; and
WHEREAS, given the rapid and substantial changes in applicable law, public agencies are
required to study these changes and develop appropriate responses as to not suffer the significant
adverse consequences for noncompliance; and
WHEREAS the City Council has determined amending City Council Policy No. 44 "Neighborhood
Architectural Design Guidelines" to not apply to projects that are eligible to utilize the Citywide
Objective Design Standards Manual and CMC Chapter 21.88 and to update its existing subjective
guidelines to be objective guidelines, is desirable for consistency with current state regulations and to
not conflict with the Citywide Objective Design Standards Manual and CMC Chapter 21.88; and
WHEREAS, the City Council Policy No. 44, attached hereto as Attachment "A" and incorporated
herein by this reference, establishes reasonable, uniform, and comprehensive standards and
procedures for residential development projects consisting of single-family projects of 2 or more
detached homes; and
WHEREAS, on Aug. 29, 2023 the City Council considered this Resolution, at which the City
Council received, reviewed and evaluated the staff report, written and oral testimony from the public
and other information in the record.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Carlsbad, California, as
follows:
1.That the above recitations are true and correct.
2.That the proposed amendments to City Council Policy No. 44, attached hereto as
Attachment "A" are approved.
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED at a Regular Meeting of the City Council of the City of
Carlsbad on the 29th day of August, 2023, by the following vote, to wit:
AYES:
NAYS:
ABSTAIN:
ABSENT:
Blackburn, Bhat-Patel, Acosta, Burkholder, Luna.
None.
None.
None.
-tr
l�KEITH BLACKBURN, Mayor
SHERRY FREISINGER, City Clerk
(SEAL)
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City Council
POLICY STATEMENT
Policy No.
Date Issued
44
Aug.29,2023
Resolution No. 2023-229
Subject: NEIGHBORHOOD ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN GUIDELINES
Purpose
The purpose and intent of the architectural guidelines is to ensure that a variety of architectural
elements are incorporated into certain single-family homes so that they: a) are visually
interesting, b) have sufficient building articulation to reduce their bulk and mass, c) are in scale
to their lot size, and d) strongly contribute to the creation of livable neighborhoods.
Background
City Council Policy Statement No. 44 was first adopted in 1989 to establish architectural design
guidelines for the development of livable neighborhoods. It was subsequently amended in
1997, 2001, 2006 and 2023 -most recently to conform with state requirements related to
objective design standards.
Statement of policy
This policy is applicable for the following types of residential development projects:
•A new individual single-family home or remodel shall not be subject to these
architectural guidelines.
•New single-family residential projects of 2-4 detached homes shall comply with
architectural guidelines 1, 2, 3, 4, 9,10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 (regardless of stated
percentages).
•New single-family residential projects of 5 or more detached homes shall comply with
all of the architectural guidelines.
Procedure
•Applicants for discretionary project applications shall design projects/homes so that
they comply with the guidelines. Each applicant shall provide documentation
demonstrating compliance with this policy concurrent with the submittal of
development permit applications.
If an applicant wishes to propose an architectural style that complies with the Purpose
and Intent of this policy and yet cannot comply with the requirements of the guidelines,
the applicant may request up to four deviations from any one of the architectural
guidelines to achieve an architectural design or style of equally superior quality. All such
requests shall be fully justified specifying how the Purpose and Intent of this policy is
being achieved.
Attachment A
City Council Policy Statement 44
Aug.29,2023
Page 2
•Staff shall review projects for compliance with the guidelines and provide
recommendations to the decision-makers regarding:
o Project compliance with the policy;
o Whether or not any requested deviations are justified; and,
o Whether or not the purpose and intent of the policy would still be achieved if a
deviation is granted.
•Decision-makers shall determine, on a case-by-case basis, whether the project complies
with the intent of the policy to create livable neighborhoods.
ARCHITECTURAL GUIDELINES:
Floor Plans and Elevations
1.All residential projects shall be required to have a minimum number of different floor
plans, different front and corresponding matching rear elevations with different color
schemes as identified below:
•2-4 dwelling units shall provide 1 floor plan and 2 different elevations.
•5-12 dwelling units shall provide 2 different floor plans and 2 different
elevations.
•13-20 dwelling units shall provide 2 different floor plans and 3 different
elevations.
•21+ dwelling units shall provide 3 different floor plans and 3 different elevations.
2.All elevations of a house, including front, side and rear, shall be articulated with the
same design integrity of forms using common architectural details and materials.
3.Design details shall reinforce and enhance the architectural form of every house but
each house using the same floor plan shall differ in elevation. A minimum of 4
complimentary design details, including but not limited to those listed below, shall be
incorporated into each of the front, rear and street side building facade(s) of the house.
DESIGN DETAILS
•Balconies
•Decorative eaves and fascia
•Exposed roof rafter tails
•Arched elements
•Towers
•Knee braces
•Dormers
•Columns
•Exterior wood elements
•Accent materials (i.e.; brick, stone, shingles, wood or siding)
City Council Policy Statement 44
Aug.29,2023
Page 3
4.Floor plans in a project shall exhibit a variety of roof ridges and roof heights within a
neighborhood.
Site Planning
5.Houses with both the same floor plan and elevation style shall not occur on adjacentlots.
6.Reverse floor plans shall be included where possible to add variety to the street scene.
Single Story Requirements
7.A minimum of 15% of the total number of homes shall be single-story structures.
Single-story is defined as a maximum plate-line of 15 feet and a maximum building
height of 20 feet. Lofts are permitted subject to CMC Section 21.04.330.
or
A minimum of 10% of the total number of homes shall be single-story structures and
15% shall be reduced second story structures. A reduced second story structure shall
comply with the following criteria:
• A minimum of 60% of the roofline shall be single story;• A 2-story element may be added in the central portion of the front and rearelevation; and
•The second story element may be no greater than 25% of the floor area ofthe first floor of the house (including garage).
or
For alley-loaded product, a minimum of 20% of the homes shall be single-story for the
front 20% of the home (overall depth of house times 20%).
8.A maximum of 20% of the total number of homes are exempt from the requirement
to have a single-story building edge.
9.The remaining total number of homes shall comply with one of the following guidelines:
•The home shall have a single-story building edge with a depth of not less than 8
feet and shall run the length of the building along one side except for tower
elements. The roof covering the single-story element shall incorporate a
separate roof plane and shall be substantially lower than the roof for the two
story element. Porches and porte-cochere elements shall qualify as a single
story edge. Houses with courtyards that are a minimum of 15 feet wide located
along the side of the house and setback a minimum of 15 feet from the property
line are not required to have a single-story building edge.
City Council Policy Statement 44
Aug.29,2023
Page 4
• The home shall have a single-story building edge with a depth of not less than 5
feet and shall run the length of the building along one side. The roof of the
single-story element shall be substantially lower than the roof for the two-story
element of the building.
•The home shall have a single-story building edge with a depth of not less than 3
feet for 40% of the perimeter of the building.
Multiple Building Planes
10.For at least 66% of the homes in a project, there shall be at least 3 separate building
planes on street side elevations of lots with 45 feet of street frontage or less and 4
separate building planes on street side elevations of lots with a street frontage greater
than 45 feet. Balconies and covered porches qualify as a building plane.
The minimum offset in planes shall be 18 inches and shall include, but not be limited to,
building walls, windows, porches and roofs. The minimum depth between the faces of
the forward-most plane and the rear plane on the front elevation shall be 10 feet. A
plane must be a minimum of 30 sq. ft. to receive credit under this section.
11.Rear elevations shall adhere to the same criteria outlined in Number 10 above for front
elevations except that the minimum depth between front and back planes on the rear
elevation shall be 4 feet. Rear balconies qualify as a building plane.
12.For at least 66% of the homes in a project, one side elevation shall have sufficient
offsets or cutouts so that the side yard setback averages a minimum of 8.5 feet.
Windows/Doors
13.At least 66% of exterior openings (door/windows) on every home in the project shall be
recessed or projected a minimum of 2 inches and shall be constructed with wood, vinyl
or colored aluminum window frames (no mill finishes).
14.Windows shall reinforce and enhance the architectural form and style of the house
through, the use of signature windows and varied window shapes and sizes.
Front Porches
15.Fifty percent (50%) of the homes shall be designed with a covered front porch, open
courtyard, or balcony (each with a minimum depth of 6 feet and a minimum area of 60
square feet) located at the front of the dwelling. The minimum depth for a covered front
porch shall be measured from the front facade of the home to the inside of any
City Council Policy Statement 44
Aug.29,2023
Page 5
supporting porch posts. The front and sides of porches shall be open except for required
and/or ornamental guardrails. A variety of roof elements shall be provided over
porches. Porches may not be converted to living space.
Front Entries
16.Seventy-five percent (75%) of the homes must have a front entry to the home that is
clearly visible from the street. Walkways from the front door shall connect directly to
public sidewalks, private driveways and/or to other pedestrian walkways.
Chimneys
17.Chimneys and chimney caps shall be in scale with the size of the home and shall either
be painted the same color as the exterior wall or constructed with the same materials
present on other accents or elements of the fa�ade. No more than 2 chimneys shall be
allowed for homes on lots in planned developments having an area less than 7,500
square feet.
Garage Doors
18.Garage doors for 3 or 4 cars in a row that directly face the street must have a
minimum of an 18" plane change between the garage doors after the 2 car garage
door.
Note #1: Fractional units of 0.5 or greater shall be rounded up to the next whole number
and located in a manner to achieve the best project design as determined by the project
planner. When a percentage of units are described in the guidelines, the intent is to have
that percentage spread throughout the entire project.