The City Council on Monday night adopted proposals to update existing standards for ADUs, new mixed-use, and multi-family development, and new objective standards for single family homes and residential projects up to four units.
The technical details encompassed in the city’s new 200+ page Objective Design Standards document represent more than year’s worth of work by the city to streamline design review for new housing by creating clear, measurable, and enforceable rules that comply with state laws for new housing in Piedmont. Piedmont’s Sixth Cycle Housing Element — a plan for how the city can accommodate a state-mandated 587 new homes by 2031 — includes the Moraga Canyon Specific Plan (which has its own design document) and other sites in the city for potential future development.
The city’s underlying policy since the beginning work on the Housing Element has been “maintaining local control, maintaining local character,” said Vice Mayor Conna McCarthy.
Councilmember Tom Ramsey noted that public comments played an important role in developing the final draft under consideration Monday evening. Starting in September 2024, the city held community study sessions and public meetings, and conducted a survey in 2025 to gather feedback on the proposals. Jackson and the city’s attorney said they took care to consider feedback received up until Monday’s meeting when drafting the language in the final document.
While not dictating specific architectural styles, the draft standards are designed to result in housing consistent with what already exists in Piedmont — maintaining architectural interest through form, articulation, step backs, and other structural detail, according to the city.
“This [document] gives applicants certainty when they submit applications,” said Planning and Building Director Kevin Jackson.
The standards only apply to new housing units; the city will continue to have remodels and additions to existing homes go through discretionary processes.
State law now requires cities to approve certain new housing proposals, including accessory dwelling units and SB9 applications, based on “objective” standards — those that require no subjective judgement or interpretation by public officials. Unlike the traditional design review process, these state-mandated “ministerial” permits cannot take into account public comments and do not come to the Planning Commission for approval at a public meeting.
When developing the Objective Design Standards, the project team — which included a Planning Commission subcommittee — started with Piedmont’s existing Design Review Guidelines and looked at how they could be translated into objective, measurable rules.
The draft Objective Design Standards were also informed by community feedback received at two open house events, an online survey, and two Planning Commission study sessions. Proposed rules governing driveways and window placement reflect common concerns about safety and privacy.
The draft Objective Design Standards triggered some revisions to the city’s Zoning Ordinance (Chapter 17-Planning and Land Use) and the Piedmont Design Standards and Guidelines, which the Council also approved on Monday night.
You can view the document HERE.