According to state law, objective design standards are standards or guidelines that can be uniformly applied without involving personal or subjective judgement by public officials or decision makers. The guidelines should be known by both developers and public officials.
Examples of subjective design standards and guidelines could include the following:
- "Doors, porches, balconies and walkways should face the streets, to the extent possible, to promote social interaction along the streetscape."
- "Special care should be taken to break down a building's mass wherever possible through variation in height. Varied floor plans can be designed in such a way so that less long runs of side wall can be paired with plans that have longer runs."
In each of these cases, more detail would be needed so the standard can be uniformly applied, without relying on the subjective judgement of decision makers.
