Official in hurry to go green

Irked by delays, a council member is writing a building ordinance himself.

By JANET ZINK, Times Staff Writer
Published November 13, 2007

TAMPA - More than 18 months ago, the City Council called for an ordinance to encourage environmentally friendly construction.

The city's staff hasn't produced one yet, and the delay has spawned a competing effort by a City Council member to put one on the table.

Council member John Dingfelder said he got tired of waiting.

"Our earth is in trouble, and we need to do something about it," Dingfelder said. "I don't think we really have time to drag our feet on these issues."

Meanwhile, Mayor Pam Iorio's administration is still plugging away on its own ordinance.

Tom Snelling, deputy director of growth management and development services, said he's been working with a group of staff members to write an ordinance since the council requested it in spring 2006. The group went to Sarasota about a year ago to take a look at the city's rules. It met with builders and architectural groups and got a positive response.

But, still, no ordinance.

In a presentation June 14 to the City Council, Snelling offered reasons various ideas might not work.

-Density bonuses aren't effective, he said.

-Sarasota offers expedited permitting for green projects, but Tampa already turns out the first round of permit reviews in less than a week, he told the council.

-Discounted or waived fees will hurt the bottom line in tight budget times, he said.

-Training the staff to understand green designs will be expensive, he said.

At the time, Dingfelder said nothing should be taken off the table. The budget may be tight this year, but that won't always be the case, he said.

Four days later, at a council strategic planning session, he said he would write the ordinance himself.

As a former assistant county attorney, Dingfelder said he's comfortable writing an ordinance, which is typically done by the city staff.

He pulled together a 24-member committee of architects, builders and others to gather information on policies put in place by other cities and counties that promote what is known as "green building."

Renae Tvedt, an architect at Gensler Architecture, serves on the committee. Her company has helped craft policy for other cities, and is now in the process of greening up their own offices.

"It's all about energy efficiency and creating buildings that will actually add to the environment as opposed to taking away," she said. "A lot of cities in the nation are trying to go this route. They're all headed this way. Of course, we're behind the other cities."

Green building techniques include using recycled materials, landscaping that doesn't require a lot of water, roofs that have plants on them, solar power, energy-efficient windows and building in urban instead of suburban areas.

Cities, counties and other governments that want to encourage those techniques speed up permitting processes, offer tax credits and waive or discount fees to builders who use them.

Dingfelder said he's also considering speeding up rezonings and adjusting water connection fees for green builders.

"Some of those they may or may not be feasible," Tvedt said. "We still have to investigate."

At first, the city staff showed little interest in Dingfelder's committee. An assistant city attorney showed up for the first meeting. After Dingfelder publicly complained that no one from the land development department attended, Iorio directed someone to go.

Now Cyndy Miller, director of the Growth Management and Development Services Department, Snelling and city contracts administrator David Vaughn are part Dingfelder's group, even though the city staff is working on an ordinance independently of Dingfelder.

"The work they're doing is hand in glove with what we're working on here," Snelling said. "If they can assist us with working faster on the research and analysis, we're going to take that and all they're willing to give."

In addition to exploring the policies of other governments, they're looking at Tampa's codes to find barriers to green building.

For example, he points to a requirement that all commercial developments install irrigation.

"That's kind of contrary to someone who's going to put in a xeriscape where irrigation is not required," Snelling said.

The slow pace of writing an ordinance has nothing to do with lack of interest, he said.

"It is a priority for us to work on this ordinance. But we have a lot of irons in the fire," he said.

Snelling said eventually there will have to be a discussion on who will write the ordinance so there won't be competing documents.

Dingfelder believes no such discussion is necessary.

The City Charter, he said, makes it clear that the council is in charge of the city's legislative matters.

And that includes writing an ordinance. He plans to have his finished in January.

Janet Zink can be reached at jzink@sptimes.com or 813 226-3401.

FAST FACTS

Some incentives

Here's a sampling of green building incentives from other governments:

Baltimore County, Md.: Commercial buildings certified as green by the U.S. Green Building Council receive a property tax credit.

Bar Harbor, Maine: Density bonuses are offered to green certified projects.

Cincinnati: Developments certified as green get a property tax exemption.

Costa Mesa, Calif.: Green builders get priority permitting and fee reductions to cover the cost of certification.

Gainesville: Permits are fast-tracked for contractors who get green certification, and building permit fees are reduced by 50 percent.

Honolulu, Hawaii: All new city buildings over 5,000 square feet have to be green certified.

Miami Lakes: Developers who build to certain green standards get expedited permitting and fee reductions.

San Antonio, Texas: Fees are reduced or waived for green buildings.

Sarasota County: All county buildings must be certified green. Private developers who build green receive fast-tracked permitting and fee reductions.

[Last modified November 13, 2007, 00:00:41]