Introduction
The Village and Barrio Master Plan objective design standards for multifamily housing and mixed-use development project is an approximately 20-month community outreach process, the purpose of which is to expedite the planning permitting process by replacing existing Village and Barrio Master Plan subjective design standards for multifamily housing and mixed use development projects with objective design standards and creating a potential new palette of architectural design styles, consistent with the Village and Barrio's small beach-town community character.
Mission Statement
The mission of the Design Review Committee (DRC) is to participate in and provide guidance in developing new objective design standards for multifamily housing and mixed-use development projects within the Village and Barrio Master Plan area. The DRC must also review and provide guidance on a potential new palette of architectural design styles for multifamily housing and mixed-use development projects.
Principles of Participation
Role of Design Review Committee Members
To achieve the mission of the DRC, the City Council is asking members to constructively provide input into the development of the new objective design guidelines for achieving the following:
- Become familiar with state housing law and housing needs, constraints, and opportunities in the state, regional, and local context
- Become familiar with the Village and Barrio Master Plan's existing design standards/guidelines related to multifamily residential development and mixed-use development projects
- Become familiar with the historic background of the Village and Barrio Master Plan area
- Become familiar with the existing historic structures within the Village and Barrio neighborhoods
- Attend a minimum of three (3) meetings over an approximately one-year period
- Adhere to the project schedule and respond to established deadlines
- Keep interested community members informed of the progress of the project
- Encourage community participation throughout the development of the objective design standards
- Listen to and respect diversity in perspectives, facts and opinions
- Provide constructive feedback to city staff and consultants on works in progress at key points during the development of the project
- In decision-making, balance individual and group stakeholder goals with the larger public interest and legal requirements
- Work collaboratively with other DRC members in reaching decisions and making recommendations to the City Council
Representation and Appointment
The committee will be composed of a total of nine members as follows:
• One Planning Commissioner
• One Historic Preservation Commissioner
• Two Village resident representative
• Two Barrio resident representative
• Two professionals with expertise designing and/or developing multifamily housing/mixed-use development in the City of Carlsbad; preferably in the Village and Barrio Master Plan area.
• One Village or Barrio Business Owner representative
Each respective commission will nominate a commissioner to serve as a member of the DRC.
The Planning Commission and Historic Preservation Commission will nominate one commissioner each. The nominated commissioner must have at least 18 months remaining on his or her term at the time of appointment. The Mayor/Mayor Pro Tern will consider and confirm the recommended nominations.
The City Council Member for District 1 will recommend the four residents and business owner.
The Mayor/Mayor Pro Tern will recommend the two professionals. The full City Council will
make the final decision on all non-commissioner appointment recommendations.
Discussion Process
During DRC meetings, committee members agree to abide by the following discussion process:
• The committee will select a Chair and Vice-chair
• The committee will establish ground rules for how members should conduct themselves during meetings
• The preferred decision-making process is collaborative problem-solving
• Consensus of the DRC will take precedence over individual preferences
• In cases of non-consensus, the Chair may call for majority vote of the committee; however, alternative perspectives will be documented
• Planning staff and the project consultant will be present at all meetings to assist in the facilitation of meeting discussion with the Chair and committee as needed
Role of Chair and Vice-chair
The Chair will ensure that the DRC meetings are conducted fairly and efficiently, that proper order and mutual respect among all participants is maintained, that there is full participation during meetings, that all relevant matters are discussed, that all committee members have an opportunity to participate in committee discussions, and that necessary decisions are made. To the extent reasonable, the Chair will seek consensus of the committee in decision- making. In instances where consensus cannot be reached, the Chair may call for majority vote of the committee following procedures set forth in Carlsbad Municipal Code Chapter 1.20. However, the Chair will ensure that minority viewpoints are heard and documented.
The Chair will ensure that Principles of Participation and agreed-upon "ground rules" are adhered to.
The Chair is responsible for ensuring that members of the public desiring to address the committee can do so at the appropriate time.
The Chair may speak to members of the media on behalf of the DRC, and represent the committee at public workshops, hearings and other public events as appropriate.
The role of the Vice-chair is to serve as the Chair in the Chair's absence.
Meeting Schedule
DRC members are expected to make an approximate one-year commitment. The DRC will be formed soon after the City Council appointments are made and will have its first meeting approximately in December 2021/January 2022. The DRC will meet two additional times to review an administrative draft and public draft of the proposed objective design standards including a potential new palette of architectural design styles for multifamily housing and mixed-use development projects within the Village and Barrio Master Plan area. It is anticipated the DRC will conclude its work by approximately November 2022, however, the committee chair or committee member(s) so authorized may wish to continue project involvement by representing the DRC during public hearings on the Village and Barrio Master Plan Amendment to incorporate Objective Design Standards for multifamily housing and mixed use development projects in early/mid 2023.
Meeting Attendance
Full participation of committee members is essential to the effectiveness of the DRC, and members are expected to attend all DRC meetings. If a committee member is unable to attend a meeting, that person shall notify city staff as soon as possible.
If a committee member resigns their appointment before the committee's work has concluded, that person shall notify the Mayor/Mayor Pro Tern and City Council in writing, with copies sent to the City Clerk, City Manager and the objective design standards project manager. At their next scheduled meeting, the DRC will consider whether to recommend that the Mayor/Mayor
Pro Tern and City Council fill the vacated position.
Meeting Quorum
For meeting purposes, a quorum of the DRC is met with five members in attendance.
Open Meeting Requirements
All DRC meetings and committee members are subject to the open meeting requirements of the Ralph M. Brown Act (Brown Act). The Brown Act imposes public notice and access requirements on committee meetings, and places certain limitations on when and how committee members may communicate with one another. At the first DRC meeting, committee members will be given a briefing by the City Attorney's Office about the basic requirements of the Brown Act.
In addition to meeting as a committee approximately three times within a 11 to 12-month timeframe, committee members are encouraged to attend other activities scheduled for the benefit of the public, such as public hearings or other potential committee/commission workshops. Member attendance at these activities also may be subject to the Brown Act.
Meeting Agendas
City staff will prepare meeting agendas and supporting materials in consultation with the Chair or a majority of the DRC following the procedures of the Brown Act. At the end of each meeting, the Chair and city staff will summarize:
- the committee's recommendations for the Village and Barrio Master Plan's objective design standards and potential palette of architectural styles for multifamily housing and mixed-use development projects
- any additional research on items as determined by the committee
- new items suggested for discussion at future meetings. Agendas for future meetings will be established by consensus of the DRC with concurrence of the Chair and city staff.
Members of the public have a right to attend DRC meetings and will have an opportunity to address the committee on any issues under its purview. Agendas will include time for public comment.
External Communications
The overriding consideration in all communications is to honor and sustain the constructive, collaborative process of the committee. DRC members are encouraged to communicate with their constituencies to keep them informed of the objective design standards for the Village and Barrio Master Plan area and to encourage direct participation.
Should committee members speak to the media, members shall provide accurate information to inform the public about the project, but are asked to refrain from engaging in speculation, advocating a position on a specific issue/topic, speaking on behalf of the DRC (except for the Chair or unless authorized by the committee to do so), or otherwise making public statements that would tend to hamper constructive committee discussions.
Committee members are asked to notify city staff of any media contact related to the committee and its work. City staff will be available to assist in any communications to the media, if desired.
Information Sharing
To ensure all DRC members have the same information available to them, all documents will be distributed through city staff. If a member has information, they would like to share with other committee members, the information should be given to staff for distribution to the entire committee. Maintaining this flow of information will facilitate a respectful, collaborative process, and help avoid unintended violations of open meeting laws (e.g., serial meetings).
Work Products
In addition to its role as representatives of and conduits to community stakeholders, the DRC will be responsible for reviewing and providing guidance on draft work products, specifically on objective design standards including a potential palette of architectural styles for developers to choose from when developing multifamily and/or mixed-use development projects in the Village and/or Barrio. The DRC is not responsible for reviewing the permit streamlining process update that is being proposed as part of the project. As previously requested by City Council, the DRC is charged with reviewing only the objective design standards including a new palette of architectural design styles.
The primary purpose of the DRC in reviewing the work products is to ensure that the objective design standards accurately replaces all subjective design standards.
The draft work products that the DRC will likely review include but are not limited to:
- Staff, consultant, and subject matter expert reports and presentations on objective design standards, sample architectural design styles, and other relevant documents related to the development of multifamily housing and mixed-use development projects
- Sites analysis related to existing historic structures within the Village and Barrio Master Plan area
- Recommendation on draft objective design standards including a potential new palette of architectural styles to choose from
- Meeting minutes
PowerPoint Presentation - May 18, 2023 Design Review Committee