Staff recommends the City Council adopt Resolution 2025-042:

1. Finding that authorizing the City Administrator to enter into a Professional Services Agreement is not a project under CEQA as defined in Public Resources Code Section 21065 and CEQA Guidelines Section 15378; and

2. Authorizing the City Administrator to enter into a Professional Services Agreement (PSA) with Opticos Design, Inc., for a not-to-exceed fee of $180,000 to prepare objective design and development standards (ODDS) for multi-family residential, mixed-use residential, and accessory dwelling units.  

Executive Summary:

The City Council adopted the 6th cycle Housing Element on April 8, 2024. One of the implementation programs is the creation of objective design and development standards (ODDS) for multi-family housing. In December 2024, the city released a Request for Proposals to solicit a consultant to prepare the ODDS. The City Council will consider entering into a Professional Services Agreement with Opticos Design, Inc., for the preparation of ODDS for Carmel-by-the-Sea.

Background:

6^th Cycle Housing Element

The City Council adopted the 6th cycle Housing Element on April 8, 2024. Chapter 2 of the Housing Element includes the Goals, Policies, and Programs. Goal HE-1 is to facilitate housing construction. Policy 4 is to improve development review and approval processes. Program 1.4.B is to create objective design and development standards to provide clarity and more objectivity in the review of multi-family housing projects. The intent of adopting ODDS is to incentivize and accelerate the construction of affordable housing. Multi-family housing projects with at least one deed-restricted affordable housing unit could utilize the ODDS. Housing projects located on sites listed in the Sites Inventory (Appendix C, Table C-3) that incorporate at least 20 percent of the units as affordable could also utilize the ODDS. The timeline to adopt the ODDS is December 2025.

Purchasing System (CMC Chapter 3.12)

Carmel Municipal Code Section 3.12.120 (Professional Services) allows the city to utilize requests for proposals, also known as an RFP, when considering the retention of professional services. “Professional Services” is defined as services provided to the city by independent consultants that are predominantly intellectual and varied in character – as opposed to manual or routine in nature – which require specialized knowledge of an advanced type generally acquired from study at an institution of higher learning, and entail the exercise of a wide degree of discretion and judgment when performing the services (e.g., lawyers, engineers, architects, certified public accountants and land use planners).

Request for Proposals (RFP)

The city released a Request for Proposals (RFP) on December 18, 2024. The deadline to submit proposals was February 3, 2025. Firms had 6 weeks to submit proposals; however, only one proposal, from William Fisher Architecture, was received. The overlap between the release of the proposal in mid-December and the holiday season may have affected the response rate. As a result, the city extended the RFP deadline to March 3^rd and a second time to March 24^th. As a result of the two extensions, the city received two additional proposals, one from M-Group and the other from Opticos.

City staff reviewed all three proposals and found two responsive to the RFP, M-Group and Opticos. Both firms are well qualified to prepare objective design and development standards and have demonstrated experience and proficiency in producing ODDS for various municipalities throughout California.

Opticos Design, Inc.

Opticos Design is a team of urban designers and architects. The firm was founded in 2000 and is well known for their work on missing middle housing. They authored the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) Handbook on Objective Design Standards and have prepared standards for numerous jurisdictions including Santa Barbara, San Anselmo, Belvedere and many others.

Environmental Review 

CEQA Guidelines Section 15378.b.5 states that a project does not include governmental fiscal activities which do not involve any commitment to any specific project which may result in a potentially significant physical impact on the environment. The action by the City Council would authorize the City Administrator to enter into a PSA with a consultant to prepare ODDS that may be utilized for future unknown developments. It is not an activity that would result in either a direct or indirect physical change to the environment. Therefore, it is not a project under CEQA as defined in Public Resources Code Section 21065 and CEQA Guidelines Section 15378.

Consultant fees for the project are $180,000, excluding optional tasks. The cost will be paid in part with grant funding provided by the Regional Early Action Planning (REAP) 2.0 program ($79,985). 

The preparation of objective design and development standards is an implementation measure of the 6th cycle Housing Element adopted by the City Council on April 8, 2024.