Objective Design Standards Handbook

Height Limit Increase for Base Flood Elevation

• Sec. 26-83-030 (a)(1): Height limits are those established by the base zoning district except that where buildings are raised to meet Base Flood Elevation (BFE), the maximum height of the structure will be the sum total of the BFE and maximum height allowed by the base zoning district of the parcel.

Visual Interest Frequency

• Sec. 26-83-030 (a)(2)(i): Blank walls, such as façades without doors, windows, or landscaping treatments, must be no more than 30 feet in length along any street frontage, public park, or public open space.
• Sec. 26-83-030 (a)(2)(ii): Massing breaks must be provided at least every 50 feet along any street frontage, public park, or public open space through the use of varying setbacks, recesses, protrusions, building entries, and/or structural bays.

Massing Break Depth

• Sec. 26-83-030 (a)(2)(iii): Massing breaks must be a minimum of 12 inches deep and 48 inches wide and extend the full height of the building.

Roofline Variation

• Sec. 26-83-030 (a)(3): Rooflines must be articulated at least every 50 feet along the street frontage, through the use of architectural elements such as:
  1. Parapets
  2. Varying cornices
  3. Reveals
  4. Dormers
  5. Varying roof height, gable direction, and/or form

Façade Character

• Sec. 26-83-030 (a)(4): A minimum of 2 of the following features must be incorporated into each building façade:
  1. Accent materials
  2. Balconies
  3. Clerestory windows
  4. Bay windows
  5. Patios
  6. Individualized entries
  7. Columns
  8. Arcades
  9. Cantilevers
  10. Flourishes
  11. Decorative waterspouts
  12. Other protrusions or recesses

Entry Arrangement

• Sec. 26-83-030 (a)(5)(i): Multi-unit frontages facing parcels zoned Low Density Residential (R1) must comply with the following:
  1. At least half of building entries along the frontage must be placed on exteriors facing the parcels zoned Low Density Residential (R1).
  2. Balconies, if provided, must be included on exteriors facing the parcels zoned Low Density Residential (R1).
• Sec. 26-83-030 (a)(5)(ii): Duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes must comply with the following:
  1. Individual front doors must be provided for each unit.
  2. Individual interior stairs must be provided for each unit if stairs are needed.
• Sec. 26-83-030 (a)(5)(iii): Attached single-family dwellings (townhomes, rowhouses, or other horizontally deployed units) must provide access to each unit on an exterior that faces the street.

Entry Character

• Sec. 26-83-030 (a)(5)(iv): Street-facing entries must include at least one of the following:
  1. Porch
  2. Stoop
  3. Patio
  4. Portal
  5. Colonnade

Entry Landscaping

• Sec. 26-83-030 (a)(5)(v): At least 20 square feet of planted area must be provided between each building entry and adjacent streets.

Trim

• Sec. 26-83-030 (a)(6)(i): Trim surrounds must be provided at all exterior window and door openings. In lieu of exterior window trim, windows may be recessed from the wall plane by a minimum of 2 inches.

Sight Lines

• Sec. 26-83-030 (a)(6)(ii): On parallel building faces, window and door placement must be staggered or otherwise designed to avoid sight lines directed into adjacent dwelling windows or doors. Where a proposed building is within 100 feet of another building and not separated by a roadway, screening, or structures, then windows and balcony openings must be either:
  1. Horizontally offset at least 6 feet from the projection of the adjacent building’s sight lines; or
  2. Oriented or placed on a wall such that the face of the window is angled at least 30 degrees, measured horizontally from the plane perpendicular to the adjacent building’s sight lines.

Mixed-use Frontages

• Sec. 26-83-030 (a)(6)(iii): At least 30% of the length of each ground floor nonresidential street frontage must include doors and/or transparent windows with a maximum sill height of 3 feet as measured above grade.

Gloss and Reflectance

• Sec. 26-83-030 (a)(7)(i)(a): Exterior finishes with a semi-gloss or gloss designation or exceeding a gloss level of 20 are prohibited.
• Sec. 26-83-030 (a)(7)(i)(b): Roof materials must not exceed a light reflectance value (LRV) of 70.

Themes

• Sec. 26-83-030 (a)(7)(ii)(a): Buildings must carry the same theme on all elevations, using at least 2 of the following approaches:
  1. Primary (non-accent) material
  2. Primary (non-accent) color
  3. Window detail (sills, frames) and proportions
  4. Repeating recess and or protrusion depth
• Sec. 26-83-030 (a)(7)(ii)(b): Buildings three stories or more must provide a ground floor elevation that is distinctive from the upper stories by providing a material change between the first floor and upper floors along at least 75 percent of a building façade with frontage upon a street, public park, or public open space. Material changes include, but are not limited to:
  1. Changes in physical materials such as stucco to stone or siding
  2. Differentiation of orientation or style of a single material
  3. Differentiation of color
  4. If a change in color is the only proposed differentiation, then a trim element of a different material or architectural feature along the full length of the differentiated area must be provided to separate the two.
• Sec. 26-83-030 (a)(7)(ii)(c): At least 2 materials must be used on any building frontage, in addition to any glazing and railings. Any single material must comprise at least 20% of the building frontage.
• Sec. 26-83-030 (a)(7)(ii)(d): Structural underpinnings for decks, additions, retaining walls, or foundation structures that exceed 6 feet in height must include a minimum of 2 of the following features from the main building(s):
  1. Materials
  2. Detailing
  3. Colors

Affordable Units

• Sec. 26-83-030 (a)(7)(iii): Affordable units and market rate units in the same development must be constructed of the same exterior materials and details such that the units are not distinguishable.

General Requirement

• Projects must be provided with collection facilities to accommodate refuse, recycling, and organic waste.

Capacity

• Sec. 26-83-030 (a)(8)(i): Designers must coordinate with the waste collection provider to determine the size and number of containers required to avoid overflowing any of the solid waste, recyclable materials, or organic waste generated on the premises during the designated removal period. A letter or tabulation demonstrating the adequacy of proposed containers must be provided prior to issuance of any permit.

Container Type

• Sec. 26-83-030 (a)(8)(ii)(a): Individual waste bins with dedicated space within garages or dedicated enclosures may be provided for each unit for the following types of projects:
  1. Single-family dwellings, including townhomes and detached single-family subdivisions
  2. Duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes
  3. Condominiums projects including less than 4 dwellings
• Sec. 26-83-030 (a)(8)(ii)(b): Communal dumpsters within dedicated enclosures must be provided for the following types of projects:
  1. Multifamily projects including 5 or more dwellings
  2. Condominium projects including 5 or more dwellings
  3. Mixed-use projects

Waste Enclosure Design and Access

• In addition to standards in Sonoma County Code Section 22-10, waste enclosure design and access must comply with the following:
• Sec. 26-83-030 (a)(8)(iii)(a): Driveways or aisles must provide unobstructed access for collection vehicles and personnel with at least the minimum clearance required by the collection methods and vehicles utilized by the designated collector.
• Sec. 26-83-030 (a)(8)(iii)(b): Enclosures must be fully enclosed by solid walls on 3 sides, 1 solid collection access gate, and a solid roof. Openings may be provided between the roof and enclosure sides above 6 feet in height to allow for ventilation.
• Sec. 26-83-030 (a)(8)(iii)(c): A pedestrian scale ADA-compliant access gate must be provided in addition to collection access gates.
• Sec. 26-83-030 (a)(8)(iii)(d): Dumpster enclosures must be located so that no proposed dwelling is closer than 20 feet to, and no more than 100 feet from an enclosure. Dumpster enclosures must not be located closer than 20 feet to dwellings on properties abutting the project site. No minimum distance from dwellings is required if dumpsters are located within a fully enclosed room.

Distribution Facilities

• Sec. 26-83-030 (a)(9)(i): For projects including 4 or more dwelling units, all utility distribution facilities (including but not limited to electric, communication and cable television lines) installed in and for the purpose of supplying service to any residential development must be placed underground, except for equipment appurtenant to underground facilities, (e.g., surface-mounted transformers, pedestal-mounted terminal boxes and meter cabinets, and concealed ducts).

Utility Screening

• Sec. 26-83-030 (a)(9)(ii): All the following exterior features must be screened through the use of landscaping and or building features:
  1. Roof top equipment
     1. The point of view for determining visibility of rooftop equipment must be 5 feet above grade at a distance of 200 feet.
     2. If the roof structure does not provide this screening, an equipment screen must be included in the design.
     3. Roof-mounted solar panels are exempt from this requirement.
  2. Electric and gas meters
     1. Meters must be screened from view or oriented away from street frontages.
  3. Fire sprinkler valves
  4. Backflow preventers
  5. Transformers
• Sec. 26-83-030 (a)(9)(iii): Screening for all mechanical or air-conditioning apparatus must include sound baffling features.

General Requirement

• Sound walls, if proposed or required based on the results of an acoustical analysis, must comply with the following:

Screening and Design

• Sec. 26-83-030 (a)(10)(i): Sound walls must be screened from public rights-of-way at minimum through the use of landscaping. Landscaping must at least be included between or at each massing break. An earth berm may also be provided.
• Sec. 26-83-030 (a)(10)(ii): The sound wall must have a massing break at minimum every 20 linear feet.
• Sec. 26-83-030 (a)(10)(iii): The sound wall materials and/or colors must match the theme of the primary building.

Parking Area Screening

• Sec. 26-83-030 (b)(1)(i)(a): All parking areas, including covered and uncovered parking, must be screened from public street frontages and dwellings on adjacent properties. Screening may be accomplished through building placement, landscaping, a planted earth berm, fencing, or a combination of the former.
  1. Planted areas for landscape-only screening must create a buffer of at least 5 feet in depth for the length of the parking area. Plants used for screening must be evergreen and at least 4 feet tall at maturity.
  2. Gaps in screening up to 4 feet in width may be provided for pedestrian access between parking areas and adjacent sidewalks. A gap may be provided after every 20 feet of screening included.
  3. Where the windows of ground-floor dwelling units face a perpendicular parking area, landscaping of at least 5 feet in height measured from the center of the nearest parking stall must be provided to prevent headlight shine in units.
• Sec. 26-83-030 (b)(1)(i)(b): Proposed garages and carports must include at least 2 of the following from a main building:
  1. Colors
  2. Building façade materials
  3. Detailing
  4. Roof materials, except that an exemption from this requirement applies to the roof materials of these structures for parking spaces covered by photovoltaic panels and their support systems.

Parking Area Landscaping and Shading

• Sec. 26-83-030 (b)(1)(ii)(a): At least 8% of each off-street parking area with more than 10 parking spaces must be landscaped.
• Sec. 26-83-030 (b)(1)(ii)(b): Landscaped “islands”, “fingers”, or “medians” must be provided every 10 parking spaces.
• Sec. 26-83-030 (b)(1)(ii)(c): Trees must be included such that at least 50% of the parking area is shaded by estimated canopy cover at 15-year tree maturity. Planters for canopy trees must be a minimum of 5 feet by 5 feet.
• Sec. 26-83-030 (b)(1)(ii)(d): Parking lot landscaping must comply with subsection (b)(2) (Landscaping).

Plant Material

• Sec. 26-83-030 (b)(2)(i)(a): Project landscaping, including hydroseeding, must use California native or non-invasive climate-adapted species.
• Sec. 26-83-030 (b)(2)(i)(b): Plant selections cannot include any plant identified as invasive by the State of California or the California Invasive Plant Council.
• Sec. 26-83-030 (b)(2)(i)(c): Landscaped areas of 100 square feet or greater must include at least 3 different species in the design.

Landscape Placement

• Sec. 26-83-030 (b)(2)(ii)(a): Landscaping must be provided in all required yards.
• Sec. 26-83-030 (b)(2)(ii)(b): Trees and shrubs must be planted so that at maturity they do not interfere with utility lines or visibility of signage from the right-of-way.

See also:

• Entry Landscaping in Structure Design Standards section under Entries
• Parking Area Landscaping and Shading in Parking Areas above

Consistency with Other Standards

• Sec. 26-83-030 (b)(2)(iii): All landscaping must comply with Chapter 7D3 (Water Efficient Landscape).
• Sec. 26-83-030 (b)(2)(iv): Adequate drainage and stormwater management must be provided in compliance with Chapter 11, Chapter 11A, and the Storm Water Low-Impact Development (LID) Technical Design Manual, BASMAA Post Construction Manual, or equivalent California Water Board Storm Water Low Impact Development Methodologies.
• Sec. 26-83-030 (b)(2)(v): All landscaping must follow fire safe guidelines published by the department. (Coming Soon!)

Landscape Maintenance

• Sec. 26-83-030 (b)(2)(vi): Landscaping must be perpetually maintained for the life of the project. A landscape maintenance plan must be submitted that describes minimum routine and periodic maintenance to be performed for all landscaped areas. Maintenance of approved landscaping must include as applicable: watering, mowing, pruning, fertilizing, mulching, litter pickup and removal, clearing of debris and weeds, integrated pest management practices, the removal and timely replacement of dead plants, and the repair and timely replacement of irrigation systems and integrated architectural features consistent with the approved landscape plan.

Total Open Space

• Sec. 26-83-030 (b)(3): Multifamily, mixed-use, and condominium developments of 4 or more dwelling units on a single lot must include open recreational and leisure area totaling at least 200 square feet per dwelling unit, except that projects limited to senior occupants need only include at least 150 square feet per dwelling unit.

Private Open Space

• Sec. 26-83-030 (b)(3)(i): Private open space, such as patios and balconies, may account for up to 50% of the total required usable open space. If proposed, private open space must comply with the following standards:
  1. Access. Private open space areas must be accessible and usable only by the occupants of a particular dwelling unit.
  2. Enclosure. Enclosed private ground-floor open spaces fronting a public street or sidewalk must have an enclosure between 3 and 4 feet in height. The following are allowable enclosure materials:
     1. Walls of a color and material that match those used for the main building
     2. Wrought iron or dark colored steel, aluminum, or cable fencing
     3. Glass or Acrylic
     4. Wood

Common Open Space

• Sec. 26-83-030 (b)(3)(ii): Remaining required open space must be provided as common open space.
  1. Access. Common open space areas and amenities must be accessible to all residents via common walkways.
  2. Seating. At least 2 fixed seating elements must be provided in common open space areas. At least 1 of the seating elements must include a shade structure or be placed under a tree canopy or building protrusion.
  3. Greenery. At least 60% percent of the common open space must include gardens, groundcover vegetation, and/or other landscaping consistent with subsection (b)(2) (Landscaping), while remaining area may include hardscape.
  4. Audience. Developments including 20 units or more must include common open areas for adults and children. Senior-restricted developments need not provide an open area specific for children.

Exclusions

• Sec. 26-83-030 (b)(3)(iii): The following areas will not be considered as contributing to the required open space:
  1. Any required front or side yard setback area
  2. Any area used for parking or vehicular circulation
  3. Any area with a dimension of less than 6 feet

Location and Articulation

Placement

• Sec. 26-83-030 (c)(1)(i): Lighting must be provided in the following locations:
  1. All parking areas and structures
  2. All pedestrian paths of travel
  3. Points of conflict where vehicular traffic flow crosses paths with pedestrians or bicycle facilities
  4. All service yards and access to services and utilities

Fixture Height

• Sec. 26-83-030 (c)(1)(ii):
  1. Lighting for parking and internal circulation must be no taller than 16 feet.
  2. Bicycle and pedestrian pathways within the development must be lit by fixtures no taller than 36 inches.

Orientation

• Sec. 26-83-030 (c)(1)(iii): Light fixtures must be fully shielded and oriented downward (opening perpendicular to the ground) and away from adjoining properties and public rights-of-way, so that no on-site light fixture directly illuminates an area off the site.

Color and Intensity

• Sec. 26-83-030 (c)(2)(i): Color temperature of exterior light sources must be 3000 Kelvin or lower.
• Sec. 26-83-030 (c)(2)(ii): Luminaries must not exceed 1,000 lumens per fixture.
• Sec. 26-83-030 (c)(2)(iii): Total illuminance beyond the property line created by artificial lighting must not exceed 1.0 lux.

Timing

• Sec. 26-83-030 (c)(3): Security lights must be motion activated.

Prohibited Lighting

• Sec. 26-83-030 (c)(4): The following are prohibited:
  1. Flood lights
  2. Uplights
  3. Signs emitting light

Placement

• Sec. 26-83-030 (c)(1)(i): Lighting must be provided in the following locations:
  1. All parking areas and structures
  2. All pedestrian paths of travel
  3. Points of conflict where vehicular traffic flow crosses paths with pedestrians or bicycle facilities
  4. All service yards and access to services and utilities

Fixture Height

• Sec. 26-83-030 (c)(1)(ii):
  1. Lighting for parking and internal circulation must be no taller than 16 feet.
  2. Bicycle and pedestrian pathways within the development must be lit by fixtures no taller than 36 inches.

Orientation

• Sec. 26-83-030 (c)(1)(iii): Light fixtures must be fully shielded and oriented downward (opening perpendicular to the ground) and away from adjoining properties and public rights-of-way, so that no on-site light fixture directly illuminates an area off the site.

• Sec. 26-83-030 (c)(2)(i): Color temperature of exterior light sources must be 3000 Kelvin or lower.
• Sec. 26-83-030 (c)(2)(ii): Luminaries must not exceed 1,000 lumens per fixture.
• Sec. 26-83-030 (c)(2)(iii): Total illuminance beyond the property line created by artificial lighting must not exceed 1.0 lux.

• Sec. 26-83-030 (c)(3): Security lights must be motion activated.

Prohibited Fixtures and Features

• Sec. 26-83-030 (c)(4): The following are prohibited:
  1. Flood lights
  2. Uplights
  3. Signs emitting light