Community Design Standards Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

The Community Design Standards Project is a community-based planning effort that will result in comprehensive objective design regulations for commercial, multi-family and mixed-use residential projects for the County's West Slope Community Regions and Rural Centers. These standards will address all aspects of construction and site design, and document architectural themes rooted in each community's building tradition. They will also provide conceptual site designs to demonstrate how the standards can be applied to the different kinds of sites present in the community and include objective performance standards (e.g. specific paint colors, minimum number and type of windows per building frontage, number and type of landscaping plantings to screen exterior walls, etc.) to assist staff and developers with implementing the approved standards.

The project will be led by the Planning and Building Department's Long Range Planning Unit.   

The County is undertaking the project to implement El Dorado County General Plan policy direction to prepare design standards for each of the County's Community Regions and Rural Centers in collaboration with community members in order to identify, maintain, and enhance each community’s character and unique identity. As the new community design standards will be customized to help each community define their own design preferences for commercial, mixed-use and multi-family residential development, residents and business owners in each community will be certain about the look and feel of future development in each of their communities.  The County is also embarking on this effort to help simplify and expedite the development review process. This will reduce development costs and help to encourage high-quality designs for new multi-family housing projects.

Yes. This project focuses on the creation of permanent objective design standards for each Community Region and Rural Center, binding regulations that future multi-family residential, mixed-use and commercial projects in each community must meet. Once these standards are adopted, new multi-family residential, mixed-use and commercial development will be required to comply with the new standards. Until such time as permanent design standards are adopted, multi-family residential, mixed-use and commercial development in each Community Region and Rural Center will be required to be consistent with the County's Interim Design Standards, adopted in December 2024, consisting of the Interim Objective Design Standards (IODS) for state streamlined, ministerial projects and the Interim Design Standards and Guidelines (IDSG) for all other projects.  

The County’s new objective multi-family residential, mixed-use and commercial design standards will be utilized by both developers and members of the public to understand the County’s expectations for new multi-family, mixed-use and commercial development. The new standards will be implemented by County staff (e.g. Building and Planning Division) who will review submitted development plans and verify that such plans are consistent with the adopted standards.

Key project components include, but are not limited to the following:

• Development of Permanent Community-Specific Design Standards:  Beginning in mid-2025, the County will begin working with community members to create permanent community design standards for commercial, multifamily and mixed-use projects in each Community Region and Rual center based on the information included in the adopted Interim Community Design Standards documents.

• Stakeholder Involvement:  The County will be inviting people who live, work or do business in each Community Region or Rural Center (Stakeholders) to participate in community tours and provide feedback about what information should be included in the permanent community design standards. 

• Community Workshops:  The County and design consultant will create draft community design standards based on stakeholder feedback and information from the adopted Interim Community Design Standards.  Public workshops will be held in each community in order for community members to review the draft standards and provide feedback.

• Adoption - The County will finalize each set of proposed Design Standards, complete the necessary environmental review analysis, and present the documents to the Planning Commission and Board for adoption.

As a community-based planning process, the Design Standards’ outreach process includes a variety of opportunities and ways for the public to participate. See the list below for the project’s various types of outreach activities. Please take advantage of these many opportunities to learn, provide input, and help create standards and guidelines that perpetuate desirable commercial and multi-family development in your community.

• Public Workshops

Public workshops will be held to receive community input on a customized set of draft design standards for each Community Region.  At each workshop, staff and design consultants will receive input on architectural theme, character, and community-specific building and site design preferences.  For details, please check the project webpage for updated information.

• Planning Commission and Board Meetings

The County will conduct public hearings before the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors to consider adoption of each set of community design standards, as applicable. Community members are encouraged to attend these meetings.

• Public Review Drafts of Proposed Design Standards

Public Review Draft Design Standards will be made available to the public for review and feedback before each set of design standards is completed and prepared for final adoption.

El Dorado County is committed to involving the community in the planning process. The Design Standards process provides residents, business and property owners, development professionals, and other interested parties the chance to help define each communities’ desired character, architectural themes, and development characteristics that the design standards will be based upon. The project will reflect the communities’ preferences, and staff believes each citizen's voice is vital to identifying the key issues and aesthetic and character preferences that the standards should address.

Public input from every engagement activity will be meticulously reviewed and documented to ensure County staff and decision-makers have a full understanding of public sentiment when developing the design standards. To best ensure that the project reflects the communities’ priorities and preferences, public feedback will be considered throughout the process.

Visit the project webpage to learn more about the project, view the dates of upcoming meetings and public workshops and review meeting materials and draft documents. There will be many opportunities for public participation throughout the process. All public meetings, workshops, and draft standards documents will be posted on the webpage as information becomes available. To receive project updates, interested parties may also sign up for the project's email list on the link provided at the top of the project webpage.