In the fall of 2017, city staff assembled a Sustainability Committee and began meeting bimonthly to initiate a revision to the City's Climate Action Plan (CAP) and review departmental Action Plan responsibilities. Planning staff took the lead on developing a new section of the Land Development Regulations (LDR) titled “Sustainable Development Standards” to achieve the above-stated CAP objective and further the depth and quality of the City's environmentally-sensitive standards. Over the past seven months, Planning & Zoning staff and the Sustainability Coordinator worked together on the following tasks:

1. Reviewed existing sections of the LDR that address aspects of sustainability (e.g., urban design, landscape design, lighting, transportation and parking, water conservation, and stormwater management);
2. Reviewed other cities’ regulations for best practices in requiring or incentivizing sustainable development; and
3. Drafted a list of sustainable site and building design features, and an associated point system, to ensure that developments meet a required threshold for sustainable design.

The intent of the Sustainable Development Standards is to require new development and redevelopment projects to utilize a level of site and building design options that conserve energy, promote a healthy sustainable landscape, support public health and safety, and otherwise increase the development’s sustainability. The standards ensure that developers implement “green” practices above and beyond the City’s existing Code requirements, yet allow them to choose which specific practices they will implement to achieve the required number of points.