CITY COUNCIL: Planning Commission Recommendations Regarding Potential Green Building Incentives

Meeting Date: 3 November 2009
Prepared by: Sean Conroy, Plng & Bldg Services Manager

City Council
Agenda Item Summary

Name: Consideration of recommendations from the Planning Commission regarding potential Green Building Incentives to be offered as part of the Green Building Program.

Description: The Planning Commission made recommendations to the City Council regarding potential incentives that can be offered as part of the City’s Green Building program.

The purpose of this hearing is to receive direction from the Council regarding the Commission’s recommendations.

Overall Cost:
City Funds: N/A
Grant Funds: N/A

Staff Recommendation: Provide direction regarding Green Building Incentives.

Important Considerations: The Green Building Ordinance was adopted by the City Council on 4 August 2009. It established criteria that new construction projects must meet in order to receive a building permit. The ordinance indicated that the City Council would adopt incentives separately, by resolution.

Decision Record: Planning Commission recommended adoption of incentives to the City Council on 14 October 2009.

Reviewed by:

__________________________ _____________________
Rich Guillen, City Administrator Date

CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA
DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY PLANNING AND BUILDING
STAFF REPORT
TO: MAYOR MCCLOUD AND COUNCIL MEMBERS
FROM: SEAN CONROY, PLNG & BLDG SERVICES MANAGER
THROUGH: RICH GUILLEN, CITY ADMINISTRATOR
DATE: 3 NOVEMBER 2009
SUBJECT: CONSIDERATION OF RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE PLANNING COMMISSION REGARDING POTENTIAL GREEN BUILDING INCENTIVES TO BE OFFERED AS PART OF THE GREEN BUILDING PROGRAM

INTRODUCTION & BACKGROUND
On 4 August 2009, the City Council adopted a green building ordinance. The ordinance establishes minimum point requirements, based on two green building checklists, which applicants must obtain in order to receive a building permit. The ordinance indicates that the City Council also will adopt incentives for projects that exceed the minimum point requirements by a specified amount.

Many communities provide incentives such as increased floor area, increased height, setback waivers, permit fee reductions, permit streamlining, etc. The City of Carmel-by-the-Sea has spent many years developing the setback, height, and floor area requirements, all of which have been certified by the California Coastal Commission as part of the
City’s Local Coastal Program (LCP). Therefore, any incentives that alter LCP standards must be certified by the Coastal Commission. This may limit the types of incentives that the City can offer.

The Planning Commission made recommendations to the City Council on October 14, 2009, on potential incentives. The recommendations are discussed below. This hearing is intended to receive Council’s views on the Planning Commission’s recommendations.

Staff notes that since the trial period of the ordinance may be extended to August 1, 2010, Council is under no significant time constraint to adopt incentives.

INCENTIVE LEVEL
The following summarizes the minimum point requirements to obtain a building permit and the proposed incentives levels that will qualify applicants for incentives.

Minimum Requirements
Residential:
Category 1: New Construction (i.e. demo/rebuild) 60 points
Category 2: New Addition/Remodel > 750 sq. ft. 25 points
Category 3: New Addition/Remodel < 750 sq. ft. 15 points Category 4: Bathroom/Kitchen Remodel only 4 points Non-Residential: Category 1: New Construction (i.e. demo/rebuild) 24 pts. Category 2: Additions/Remodels > 1,000 sq. ft. 18 pts.
Category 3: Additions/Remodels < 1,000 sq. ft. 16 pts.

Proposed Incentive Levels
Residential: 120 pts.
Non-Residential: 40 pts.

POTENTIAL INCENTIVES
The Planning Commission recommended the following incentives:

Fee Reductions: A benefit now available for projects involving historic resources is a 25% reduction in the building permit fee. A similar benefit could be given as a green building incentive.

Permit Streamlining: A benefit could be available where projects meeting the incentive level would be placed ‘at the front of the line’ for building permit review. This incentive saves the applicant time and money.

Bonus Basement Floor Area: The City now allows the first 100 square feet of basement floor area to be excluded from the floor area calculations. A possible incentive could be to increase that number to 200 square feet. Additional square footage is a significant incentive that could motivate more projects to incorporate green building features.

While this incentive would require Coastal Commission approval, it is not likely to cause significant concern since the additional floor area would only be allowed underground, thus not impacting mass, bulk and the visual character of the City.

Two additional incentives discussed by the Commission, but not recommended to the Council include:

Increased Exterior Volume: The Planning Commission recently recommended changes to the City’s volumetric requirements to the City Council. One of the recommendations was to increase the volume factor for flat roofed structures to match the volume factor of pitched roof structures. This incentive could potentially replace the previous recommendation.

A possible incentive would be to allow additional volume for flat roof structures only when they include solar panels on the roof. While solar panels are an excellent way to obtain renewable energy, they also affect the visual character of the City. This incentive would encourage solar panels when they could be located on flat roofs and out of view
from the public way. This incentive would require Coastal Commission approval.

Plaque Program: During previous hearings, a public recognition program was suggested that would include a plaque indicating that a project met certain green standards. A similar program was established, but has not been implemented, for historic properties primarily due to the cost of the plaques to the City.

RECOMMENDATION
Provide direction on potential green building incentives.