Objective Design and Development Standards
State Legislation: The State of California continues to enact new laws that require streamlined housing approval by establishing a by-right, ministerial approval process for multifamily residential development. Key to ministerial approval is the replacement of subjective design guidelines and discretionary design review processes with objective standards.
What are Objective Standards? State law defines objective standards as those that “involve no personal or subjective judgement by a public official and are uniformly verifiable by reference to an external and uniform benchmark or criterion available and knowable by both the development applicant and public official prior to submittal.”
Design standards are “objective” if they are measurable, verifiable, and knowable to all parties prior to project submittal. A planning review process based on the Objective Design and Development Standards involves no personal or subjective judgement by a public official.
On June 16, 2026, the City of Sausalito adopted its Objective Design and Development Standards (ODDS) through a new Title 10A (Objective Design and Development Standards) of the Sausalito Municipal Code. The adopted ODDS include view standards which are prescribed in Chapter 3 of the ODDS. The adopted ODDS ordinance (Ordinance 14-2025) has been provided below:
- Ordinance 14-2025 (Objective Design and Development Standards) (Adopted June 16, 2026)
ViewSync Compliance Web Application
The ViewSync Compliance Web Application is a digital tool which can serve to evaluate compliance with the adopted view standards prescribed in the City’s ODDS. Please refer to the links below to access the ViewSync Compliance Web Application and the ViewSync Compliance Web Application user instructions:
Support for ViewSync Users
There are two ways for ViewSync Users to submit support requests:
- Public Support Request Form: Please use this form for public support requests.
- User Support Request Form: Please use this form for user support requests.
The user support request form can also be reached from the ViewSync dashboard under Help > Support.
Tailoring ODDS for Sausalito: Over the past three years the City worked on preparation of Objective Design and Development Standards (ODDS) which would augment the current Zoning Code regulations for new multi-family or mixed-use projects that include two or more new housing units. The ODDS implement provisions of the adopted 2023-2031 Housing Element which call for revised zoning regulations to accommodate higher density development on select sites.
The intent of ODDS is to provide applicants and developers with a clear understanding of the City’s expectations for mixed-use and multi-family residential project design. ODDS are written as requirements, rather than guidelines; therefore, all mixed-use and multi-family residential projects applying under Housing Accountability Act (HAA) protections shall comply with each standard. Importantly, ODDS regulate site and structure design only. Projects must also comply with all applicable building permit requirements, zoning code requirements, and development standards such as height, setbacks, floor area ratio, etc.
The purpose of the ODDS is to provide an alternative ministerial path towards a more efficient, predictable, and equitable path to obtaining and granting of planning approvals for compliant projects, especially for affordable housing projects.
Contact the City of Sausalito Planning Department at cdd@sausalito.gov if you have any questions regarding the ODDS.
Past Meetings and Actions
Please see below for a list of past meetings and actions which pertain to the City's adopted ODDS ordinance.