Discuss, consider, and receive a presentation on Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) amendment with regards to Landscape, Screening and related requirements.
This is a town-initiated Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) amendment as it relates to landscape requirements and screening standards for all properties and any related requirements that might be amended to avoid conflict within the UDO.
Current UDO was first adopted by Town Council in 2017. Since adoption, minor amendments have been presented by staff to periodically assess necessary changes driven by new development and to stay in compliance with state legislature. There was a comprehensive UDO amendment approved by Town Council in 2021, where most of the zoning and site improvement related standards, such as parking, signage, landscaping, lighting, etc. were amended.
Recently, due to pressures from land development, and to protect Sunnyvale’s vision of a rural community with high standards, staff had presented a complete rewrite of UDO Section 3.06.03 Tree Protection Standards. The new Tree Protection Standards aimed at preserving and protecting natural, mature tree canopies within the town. Overall philosophy and approach in detailing the tree protection and mitigation standards were to preserve trees as an important resource that enhances the quality of life and to preserve environmentally sensitive areas, such as natural areas, floodplains, and open spaces.
After adoption of the UDO Tree Protection Standards in January of 2025, the logical next step was to review landscaping requirement for new development. Preserving and promoting Sunnyvale’s natural, rural, environment, protecting existing tree canopy and requiring enhanced landscaping for new developments are complementary regulations with the same goal of high-quality growth.
Current UDO Landscaping requirements are mostly applicable to new construction and do not contain minimum site landscaping requirements, such as how much of the total developable land should be landscaped, which is usually found in other municipal landscape ordinances. Additionally, several landscaping and vegetative screening or buffer requirements are scattered throughout several sections of the UDO-Zoning Regulations, which makes implementation difficult for staff as well as developers or applicants. Resulting contradictory or confusing requirements hinder better design principles while considering building layout, site utility locations, screening, and buffering of different land use activities.
Staff would like to present to the Commission the challenges found in the current UDO in the context of landscape, screening, and related regulations and seek direction on overall reorganization and update of application sections.