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Form-Based Code Overlays

Purpose

The City of Ventura recently adopted its 6^th Cycle (2021-2029) Housing Element in January 2022. There were several new housing sites that were identified in the Housing Element, one on Telegraph Road and a few on Johnson Drive. These sites will be rezoned to allow housing, but have limited development regulations and do not include sufficient design standards to ensure that buildings will be high quality and well-designed. The Form-Based Code Overlays are being developed to be placed on these sites to provide objective design standards to achieve the community’s design goals.

Planning Commission Review

The Planning Commission will review the proposed regulations and rezoning requests at  a regularly scheduled public hearing on Wednesday, May 24, 2023. The Final Draft of the proposed regulations was amended based on the feedback received during the public draft period. The Final Draft of the overlay, with tracked changes from the last version, and the changes to the MXD zone are included below:  

1. Chapter 24.244 MXD Mixed Use Zone Revisions
2. Overlay Zones Final Draft
3. Overlay Zones with Tracked Changes from Previous Public Draft 

Public Draft

The public draft of the Form Based Code Overlay was developed based on the feedback received, using the current form-based codes and an example, as well as examples of objective design standards from other communities. The public draft was available for public review and comment from March 13, 2023 until April 9, 2023. 

• Public Draft of the Form Based Code Overlay 

Comments or feedback on the public draft can be sent to [email protected]. 

Design Review Committee Workshops

The Public Draft of the Form Based Code Overlay was reviewed by the Design Review Committee (DRC) at a Special Meeting on Wednesday, March 29, 2023 at 6:00pm in the Community Meeting Room at City Hall.  

A workshop was held with the DRC on August 31, 2022 to kick off this project and garner preliminary feedback. Materials from that workshop are listed below:

• August 31, 2022 workshop recording
• August 31, 2022 workshop PowerPoint Presentation 
• August 31, 2022 workshop Menti Poll Results    

Form-Based Codes

The City of Ventura currently has several form-based codes throughout the city. These existing codes are being used as the basis for the overlays. Below are the existing form-based codes:

• Downtown Specific Plan (PDF)
• Parklands Specific Plan (PDF)
• Saticoy Village Specific Plan (PDF)
• UC Hansen (The Farm) Specific Plan (PDF)
• Midtown Corridors Code (PDF)
• Victoria Avenue Corridor Plan and Development Code (PDF)

 Next Steps

The Form Based Code Overlay is scheduled for a regularly scheduled meeting of the Planning Commission on May 24, 2023. The Planning Commission will make a recommendation to the City Council, followed by two hearings at the City Council (tentatively June or July) for a decision on the overlays. 

To participate in the process, please feel free to review the above materials and provide your comments, feedback, and/or questions to us.