Land Use and Built Environment Laws and Regulations
This tab includes laws, legislation, regulations, agency guidance, and executive orders relevant to land use and the built environment.
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March 16, 2015
In March 2015, Governor McAuliffe signed Virginia legislation (SB 1443) to require all localities in the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission region to incorporate consideration of projected sea-level rise and recurrent flooding in updates to local comprehensive plans and to develop strategies to combat risks from sea-level rise, beginning July 1, 2015. The law directs the Department of Conservation and Recreation, the Department of Emergency Management, the Marine Resources Commission, Old Dominion University, and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science to provide technical assistance to any locality in the region upon request.
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January 30, 2015
President Obama issued Executive Order 13690, “The Federal Flood Risk Management Standard” in 2015 creating a new national minimum flood risk management standard to ensure that federal actions that are located in or near the floodplain consider risks, changes in climate, and vulnerability. The Order anticipates increases in both climate change impacts and the intensity of those impacts over time. The Guidelines provided by FEMA are for use by Federal agencies to guide the implementation of the updated Federal Flood Risk Management Standard (FFRMS).
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2011
In 2011, the City of Portland, Oregon developed a new tree code in order to preserve the urban forest and to actualize goals in the city's 2007 Urban Forest Action Plan. Prior to the new tree code, tree-related regulations were inconsistent with city policies and processes relating to planting and removal of city, street, and private trees. Recognizing that trees provide environmental, social and economic benefits to the city, the City of Portland established a legal framework and clear permitting processes to regulate trees in both development and non-development situations.
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2015
Chicago’s zoning code awards a Floor-Area Ratio (FAR) bonus for green roofs that cover more than 50 percent of the roof area. The FAR is available for buildings in downtown mixed-use districts. This type of incentive does not cost the municipality any additional money beyond a small amount of staff time to assess the plans and grant the FAR bonus. For new buildings, developers can make more money by being able to build more square footage on the same plot, and the city gets more square footage of green roofs without large expense.
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2014
The City of Boulder, Colorado’s Land Use Code (Boulder, Colorado Revised Municipal Code Title 9, Chapter 3) includes provisions to establish and implement Floodplain Overlay Districts that provide restrictions or additional requirements for all development in areas of the city subject to flooding. This includes the 500 and 100-year floodplains, Conveyance Zones, preserved corridors that allow flood waters to travel to creeks, and High Hazard Zones, areas with the greatest threat of human loss.
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January 1, 2014
The 2013 California Green Building Standards Code, or CALGreen, established by the California Building Standards Commission, went into effect January 1, 2014. California first adopted CALGreen in 2010, becoming the first statewide mandatory green building code in the country. The Code establishes minimum green building standards through uniform regulations of most new residential and non-residential California buildings. The regulations are intended to reduce construction waste, make buildings more efficient in the use of materials and energy, and reduce environmental impacts during and after construction.
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December 18, 2013
The Green Roof Property Tax Abatement provides a one-year tax abatement for the construction of a green roof on residential and commercial buildings in New York City. The City of New York and New York State passed legislation in 2008 to provide a one-year tax abatement, or tax relief, of $4.50 per square foot (up to $100,000 or the building's tax liability, whichever is less). Amended in 2013 by New York State’s AB 7058, the tax abatement is now available through March 15, 2018.
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November 2013, updated October 2017
In November 2013, the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) adopted new guidelines to address climate change impacts on development projects. The Climate Change Preparedness and Resiliency Guidelines are an addition to Article 80 of the Boston Zoning Code requiring a checklist to be completed and approved before the BRA authorizes Final Design Approval and/or Article 80 documents. Article 80 applies to "large projects" (affecting greater than 50,000 square feet) and areas subject to planned development review requirements.
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October 9, 2013
In October 2013, New York City adopted zoning amendments to encourage flood-resilient construction of buildings in designated flood zones. The amendments were put in place to remove regulatory barriers that hindered reconstruction of storm-damaged structures after Hurricane Sandy and to allow reconstructed buildings to comply with higher flood elevations issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) after the storm. The amendments were designed to ensure that new development and redevelopment would be less at-risk to damages from future flood events and to avoid increased flood insurance premiums.
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October 1, 2013
The District of Columbia (Washington D. C. ) Green Area Ratio (GAR) is an environmental sustainability zoning regulation which sets requirements for landscape elements and site design to help reduce stormwater runoff, improve air quality, and mitigate urban heat. The GAR sets minimum lot coverage standards for landscape and site design features to promote greater livability, ecological function, and climate adaptation in the urban environment. The GAR requirements provide a firm retention target and allow local governments to weight the elements they prefer in order to influence behavior, while providing some measure of flexibility for property owners.
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