Title
Resolution to Adopt a Fee-in-Lieu Rate for the Sustainability Option for a Height Increase Under Section 5.18 of the Unified Development Code
Memorandum
City Council is considering ORD-26-18, which would amend Sections 5.18 and 5.37 of Chapter 55 (Unified Development Code) of the City Code to update the eligibility requirements for developments to receive an exception to the normal zoning district height limit for implementing sustainability measures. Among the proposed amendments is the addition of an option for developers to contribute a fee-in-lieu for partial fulfillment of the requirement for on-site solar energy generation. This approach is modeled after the height bonus fee-in-lieu option for affordable housing (though unlike that option, the sustainability option only permits a portion of the requirement to be achieved by an in-lieu contribution).
Under this amendment, "Provided that the development includes on-site solar collectors with a total surface area equal to at least 20% of the footprint area of all buildings, the remainder of the required solar collector surface area may be achieved by a fee-in-lieu contributed to a designated City fund for creating equivalent solar collector surface area within the City in the rate or amount established by City Council."
This resolution establishes the formula for calculating the fee-in-lieu, as well as the resulting rate.
Establishing the amount of the fee-in-lieu
Under the updated sustainability option, the City must create a methodology to determine how much solar collector surface area must be installed at a development to meet the 60% building footprint area requirement. And, based on that calculation, the City must also create a fee-in-lieu formula, which must be adopted by City Council.
To arrive at a reasonable contribution amount, the City conducted research into existing use cases and robust datasets. Based on the analysis, the City is recommending the following:
Required Solar Component...
Click here for full text