City planners explain urban design standards for downtown bonus program — transparency, entries, green targets

Austin Planning staff summarized the urban design standards that projects must meet to use downtown density bonuses.

Makayla Ponce, Planner 3 on the code amendments team, said projects must satisfy five mandatory standards and a menu of optional standards. “To participate in the DDB program, projects must adhere to all the mandatory Urban Design Standards and meet their specified number of optional standards,” Ponce said, describing thresholds (DDB+400 requires 6 of 12 optional standards; DDB+850 requires 9 of 12).

Ponce read mandatory numeric language for ground‑floor transparency: “All ground floor external doors and windows must maintain a minimal visible light transmittance of 60% and an external reflectance of 20%,” she said, adding that materials must also meet bird‑friendly design standards. Mandatory standards also include screening of utilities and above‑ground parking, limits on above‑ground parking unless underground parking is provided, requirements for pedestrian‑oriented frontage, minimum entrance frequency on long frontages, and limits on curb cuts.

Optional standards covered enhanced pedestrian frontage, more frequent primary entrances, bicycle parking increases, limits on garage lanes, cantilever clearance to preserve street trees, overhead shelter for pedestrian protection, and transparency requirements on upper floors. Ponce also discussed historic context standards (UDS 16–17) that impose a 15‑foot height limit above adjacent historic facades unless a 15‑foot stepback is provided.

Commissioners pressed staff for clarifying diagrams and objective metrics for screening and visibility; staff agreed to provide diagrams and noted that some measurement language remains under refinement. The adopted ordinance text and code citations were referenced for detailed code language.