Tequesta staff proposes tiered green‑building incentives including up to 10% permit‑fee waiver

Meg (staff presenter) summarized regional green‑building certification systems and cost/savings estimates and asked the committee to consider a local incentive package rather than a mandatory local ordinance. She said municipalities use LEED, the Florida Green Building Coalition (FGBC), the National Green Building Standard (NGBS) and Energy Star as common certification approaches and showed approximate certification costs and annual energy‑savings estimates for prototype projects.

The staff presentation, delivered in the committee’s Feb. 12 meeting, proposed a Village of Tequesta incentive package that would waive up to 10% of building permit fees for qualifying certifications, provide expedited plan review and priority inspections, and adopt a tiered fee reduction scaled to certification level. Staff recommended not treating any standard as mandatory; instead, staff proposed aligning fees so higher…