Sara Michael, The Examiner
2007-08-01 07:00:00.0
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Howard County -

As measures encouraging green building in commercial buildings moved forward, a similar push for residential neighborhoods has been set aside for more work.

“We may recognize we have a little bit more work to do on some of the aspects” of the package of green legislation, said Council Chairman Calvin Ball, D-District 2.

The County Council on Monday tabled a checklist of standards developers must meet to be deemed a “green neighborhood” and become eligible for building incentives.

The council will work with the administration during the next 30 to 60 days to improve the standards, said Councilwoman Courtney Watson, D-District 1.

The administration presented an updated version of the list, which divided the criteria into the neighborhood site and the house.

Builders who create these green neighborhoods are eligible for a chance to build additional houses. A pot of 100 houses from the county’s annual housing allocation would be set aside as an incentive.

Those 100 houses were taken from the rural West’s allocation, which drew concern that some projects waiting to be built would be delayed.

Instead, the council approved an amended version of the legislation, which takes houses from other areas, such as Ellicott City. In a few years, the 100 houses would come from the west.

The council also approved a limit that no more than 50 percent of the green allocations given to builders can be built in one region each year.

This addressed concerns that one area would see a boost in development.

Ulman said he had no problem with the tabling of the checklist, and since the council approved the enabling legislation for this list, it should be resolved in the next few months.

smichael@baltimoreexaminer.com