Table of Contents

Green Stormwater Infrastructure

The city’s land development ordinance allows using “nonstructural practices”, including pervious pavers and green roofs, in a stormwater management plan. It highlights the function of these tactics to reduce stormwater runoff, the size and cost of stormwater storage, and runoff pollution (§16.5-3.c.3). The land development ordinance also offers a waiver to stormwater management standards if a city engineer can confirm that the project will not affect the degradation of biological functions or habitat (§16.5-3.d.2).

Solar Energy

The city's land development ordinance permits solar energy systems as accessory use in most districts and its sustainable development site plan approval points includes solar energy system installation while also incentivizing additional solar features in projects. It permits solar energy systems as accessory uses in all zoning districts except the Sand Beach district (Table 23-4-4.B.4). Solar energy equipment must not be visible along the front street elevation; may be located on any roof up to 5' above the roof surface; and may project into side and rear setback areas up to 2' from property lines to permit installation adjacent to existing nonconforming electric meters (§23-4-4-C-21).

Solar energy systems and other rooftop equipment and appurtenances are exempted from maximum height limits (§23-5-4-B-1-d).

The land development ordinance includes a section on sustainable design that imposes a sustainable development point requirement for nonresidential, mixed use, and multifamily site plan approvals (§23.6.12.B). A table of sustainable development options and points includes features such as solar hot waters used to heat at least 75% of on-premise water used and solar panels used to generate energy for on-site use with more points awarded for higher percentages (Table 23-6-12-B).

The land development ordinance also offers bonuses for additional sustainable development features, and the menu for sustainable design features for the bonus includes energy options of generating at least 20% of all energy needed by the development from alternative sources such as solar within 5 years or designing solar PV- or solar hot water-ready buildings, as well as site configuration with buildings oriented for solar access (Table 23-6-12.C.4).