The Pee Dee (thanks for this moniker George) in the form of reporter Henry Gomez, published an article today on The City of Cleveland’s, in the form of Mayor Jackson, setting a new ‘bar’ for green development and rehab projects. It says some of the changes he is proposing in a speech today will require approval by our City Council. Whom we all have to call to make it happen. I’m glad that the new guidelines would include building (and hopefully rehabs) near public transportation, or TOD’s.
One of the arguments in the article surrounds the issue of affordable housing. Nate Coffman of Home Builders Assn of Greater Cleveland is quoted as saying:
“….If by chance one system or the other is too strict and onerous to affordable housing, a thousand dollars is a big deal….”
I wrote a post on Active Rain in July about the Eco Village Townhomes at Pear and 58th. They are affordable, TOD town homes that utilize green building. My argument. is that we already have new construction on the market that needs to get absorped into the ’sold’ category so we are not in danger of having no new existing new construction for people to choose from. But if the question is, can new construction be affordable and green then the answer is already yes, just look at Eco Village.
One more quote from the Pee Dee article:
“….Jackson hopes to adopt the new standards in 2009.
Under his proposal, both rehab and new construction would have to satisfy more stringent federal standards that promote conservation to qualify for city support. Common features include airtight cooling and heating ducts and coated windows to keep homes warm in winter and cool in summer. …”
I’m sure there will be more on this as the day and week unfold, since Jackson’s speech is today. One thing I do agree with, there has to be an incentive for rehabber/owners to be able to utilize green materials. As a matter of fact there are some already: tax breaks for new things like energy efficient furnaces and windows and let’s not forget the tax abatement issue; you can have 87 percent or 78 percent of the tax base currently in place for a period of yrs. depending on how much rehabbing you do to your home.
I’m thinking there will be a lot of posting on this to do this week. Peace Out - 3C
4 responses so far ↓
1 South Florida Real Estate Blogger Leanne Paynter // Nov 14, 2007 at 2:50 pm
I’m always happy to hear about places around the U.S. that are helping to push for ‘green’ practices. It’s a movement that just makes sense.
2 Carole Cohen // Nov 14, 2007 at 3:41 pm
I hope the City Council agrees with you Leanne!
3 George Nemeth // Nov 17, 2007 at 6:29 pm
I can’t take credit for that. Roldo said it first.
4 Carole Cohen // Nov 17, 2007 at 9:51 pm
Ok George kudos to Roldo! It’s certainly a perfect fit!
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