Developers might have to play by greener rules

CHAPEL HILL -- The town with some of the strictest development rules in the Triangle may soon make them even stricter.

The Chapel Hill Planning Department is working on new rules requiring green building practices in major development projects.

"It's time to not just encourage, but require," Town Council member Laurin Easthom wrote via e-mail to fellow Town Council member Jim Ward. "The bottom line is ... there is no wiggle room for the developers."

Ward and Easthom serve along with Mayor Pro Tem Bill Strom on the council's Sustainability, Energy and Environment Committee.

Energy efficiency was a sore spot for Easthom and Ward during the council's last meeting of the year Dec. 4. Easthom voted with the majority to direct Town Manager Roger Stancil to negotiate a contract with Ram Development Co. to build a 243,000-square-foot condominium and retail complex on a town-owned parking lot downtown.

Ward was the lone dissenter, arguing that the council should have required Ram to cut energy use by 20 percent compared to conventional buildings. He chided Easthom for voting for the contract even though she had spoken out for energy efficiency.

Ram has agreed to pursue basic certification through the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program. There are many ways to attain LEED certification, such as preserving open space or fostering alternative transportation. Ward wanted Ram to focus on the energy efficiency of the buildings and attain a higher LEED "Silver" rating. Ram president Casey Cummings has said his company cannot afford to do that.

Easthom now says she will vote against the contract in February if it does not include the 20 percent energy cut and a LEED Silver rating, and she wants to see that standard, or something like it, applied to all commercial and large multi-family building projects in Chapel Hill.

The Town Council has already decided that all new municipal buildings will be LEED Silver certified, and the town also offers faster reviews to developers who promise to achieve LEED Silver.

"Other cities have required ... new construction to at least be [LEED] silver certified, as part of their ordinances," Easthom wrote in the e-mail message, which is on file at Town Hall. "I'm hoping that Chapel Hill can do the same (or whatever level the council finds acceptable)."

Nick Tennyson, executive vice president of the Home Builders Association of Durham, Orange and Chatham Counties, cautioned against relying only on the LEED program.

"The town has the option of acknowledging and accepting a broad range of programs," said Tennyson.

"If they pick any single program as the answer, I think that would be a mistake and would be counterproductive."

Without having seen a proposal, Aaron Nelson, executive director of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce, was reluctant to comment. He did say stricter regulations could drive up housing costs.

Over the past year, the average selling price of a house in Orange County was $316,418, about 25 percent higher than the average across the Triangle, according to the Raleigh Regional Association of Realtors.

"I think that there's a relationship between additional regulation and the ultimate cost to the consumer," Nelson said.

"Our challenge as a community is going to be balancing our priorities."