Coachella, California - Objective Design Standards
/Project Overview
The city of Coachella is located in Riverside County, California. It is the easternmost city in the Coachella Valley and is home to many members of the workforce for the resort communities to the west. Coachella is experiencing rapid growth and increasing demand for affordable housing. Coachella had no city-wide design standards for multi-family housing and relied upon subjective guidelines from its downtown plan. Crandall Arambula created an ODS that provided a baseline for the development review of housing proposals citywide. The development standards and review procedures were adopted by the city and subsequently served as a template for a broader overhaul of the city’s land use and development review process.
Applicable Tasks & Outcomes
Project Management. Project Management Team (PMT), met bi-weekly to review project schedule, budget, and progress on deliverables.
Analysis & Information Gathering. Evaluated existing codes, review procedures, and recent development proposals. Evaluation and recommendations were informed by site visits and consultation with staff.
Stakeholder Engagement. Conducted workshop sessions with the public and the development community. Feedback was compiled and used to develop a Public Study Session Draft.
Design Guidelines & Code Language. Delivered an ODS document, supported by a fact sheet for developers, a comprehensive ODS checklist, and a package of sample narrative text and illustrations to show applicants how to demonstrate compliance with ODS criteria.
OTHER POLICY & REGULATION PROJECTS
