AGENDA #4f

MEMORANDUM

TO:                  Mayor and Town Council

FROM:            W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager

SUBJECT:      Response to Petition – Expedited Review for LEED Certified Developments

DATE:            May 8, 2006

INTRODUCTION

On February 27, 2006, the Town Council received a petition from the Mayor to establish a policy that would grant Expedited Review for developments that met the criteria for at least a LEED Silver certification.  We recommend that the Council enact the attached resolution to amend the criteria used in recommending expedited processing for development applications.

DISCUSSION

Expedited processing grants priority status for review at every step of the process and priority scheduling on agendas of advisory boards and the Town Council.  A Zoning Atlas Amendment application or a Special Use Permit application would normally take nine months to a year to be reviewed by all the required boards and commissions and to be heard at a Public Hearing.  Following Council approval, an application normally takes four to five months to obtain approval of detailed construction drawings and final plans prior to obtaining a Building Permit.

We follow the Council-endorsed criteria listed below when making recommendations to the Council on requests for expedited processing:

1. Recommend expedited processing only in cases where there is a public interest or public objective involved.
2. Recommend expedited processing only when a project that involves public interest would be harmed by following normal rules of procedures.
3. Avoid expedited processing in situations where other applications that do not carry this special status would be delayed.

We believe that a fourth criterion, for projects that agree to meet at least a LEED Silver certification, could be added to the above list of Council endorsed criteria for expedited projects.  Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification provides a framework for assessing building performance and meeting sustainability goals.  Based on scientific standards, LEED certification emphasizes state of the art strategies for sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

As LEED certification is not issued until after completion of the building, we recommend that as part of the expedited processing request, the applicant submit evidence, that they are pursuing LEED Silver certification.  We recommend that evidence continue to be submitted at various times during the application process to document progress towards achieving LEED Silver certification in order to maintain the expedited processing status.  We have attached a list of requirements that would be used to determine whether the applicant merited initial and continual expedited treatment (Attachment 1).

We recommend that the following be added to the expedited processing criteria.

Recommend expedited processing in cases where an applicant has submitted evidence, as endorsed by the Town Council, that the applicant is actively pursuing the development of a project that will meet or exceeds the LEED Silver certification.

RECOMMENDATION

Manager’s Recommendation: We recommend that the Council enact the attached resolution to amend the criteria used in recommending expedited processing for development applications.

ATTACHMENT

1. List of requirements for expediting LEED Silver certification developments (p. 4).

2. Petition (p. 5).