The city of Holmes Beach has plenty of blue waters but not enough green buildings.
City officials are hoping to change that.
Planning commissioners June 4 discussed potential code to incentivize green building.
Green building refers to the practice of creating structures and using processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout the life cycle of a building, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Buildings can be certified as green by programs like LEED, which assess factors like energy efficiency, indoor air quality, sustainable building materials and water conservation.
While green buildings produce lower operating costs due to improved energy efficiency, they are more difficult and expensive to build than those that meet conventional standards.
Chad Minor, director of development services, presented drafted code changes that would encourage property owners building structures of more than 1,000 square feet to pursue green certifications by establishing incentives, including:
- Waiving land development, building permit and inspection fees directly related to green building features;
- Expediting municipal permitting;
- Increasing the maximum allowable lot coverage by 10% more than the maximum allowed in the base zoning district.
To receive the city’s incentives for building green, developers or property owners must submit a letter of intent alongside a site plan, then later provide proof of certification from an approved third-party green building/development rating organization.
Planning commissioners supported the concept of incentivizing green building, but had concerns about some of the proposed incentives.
Chair Gale Tedhams said it would not be feasible to expedite permitting or increase allowable lot coverage because certification could only be obtained after construction has been completed.
She said people could submit letters of intent to build green, move forward with expedited permitting and increased lot coverage, then build a structure that fails to meet green certification standards — in effect getting incentives for nothing.
“When it’s built it’s done, even if they said they were going to do something else,” Tedhams said.
She added that city staff should identify certain green certification programs for approval, since different programs have different standards.
Planning commissioners agreed that the only incentive Minor presented that they could move forward was waiving permit and inspection fees for buildings that receive green certification.
Minor said he would do more research on the matter and bring it back for discussion at future planning commission meetings.
After feedback is gathered from the planning commission, any potential ordinance must go before the city commission for two readings before it can be adopted into municipal code.
The planning commission will meet next at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 9, at city hall, 5801 Marina Drive.
A livestream of the meeting can be viewed on the city’s website, holmesbeachfl.org.