St. Anthony moves Sustainable Building Ordinance to first reading after final work-session discussion

City Planner Steve Grittman told the St. Anthony City Council at its July 14 work session that the discussion of the Sustainable Building Ordinance "was intended to be the final discussion before the Council's formal consideration." The planner summarized the ordinance's purpose, who it would apply to, the third-party rating system, standards buildings must meet, and the proposed compliance and monitoring approach. Councilmembers asked for clarifications on several provisions and staff identified next steps: revise the multi-family threshold language and present the ordinance for a first reading.

Councilmembers raised detailed questions about enforcement and waste-diversion provisions. Councilmember Lona Doolan asked what penalties would follow noncompliance; Grittman said violations would be treated as zoning violations and could move from staff outreach to civil abatement or misdemeanor criminal charges and that a Certificate of Occupancy could be revoked as a later-stage penalty. On construction and demolition waste, Sustainability Coordinator Saulog said the demolition/deconstruction provision reflects a growing state and county movement "to divert waste from landfills and allow for greater reclamation," and staff noted that previous drafts included specific diversion percentages while the current draft uses broader, more flexible language. Assistant City Manager Ashley Morello and Saulog confirmed that third-party state and county grants exist to assist with diversion but are not guaranteed.

Councilmember Thomas Randle raised concerns that the waste-diversion provisions could be overreach and questioned whether city funding or tax deductions would apply to reclamation efforts; Randle said he was uneasy about committing city funds and grants that are not assured. Mayor Wendy Webster suggested the city could allocate resources at permit submission to help contractors consider reuse options; staff emphasized they had removed a proposed five-year compliance check because of capacity constraints but retained compliance checks at approval and at one and two years to encourage ongoing adherence. Grittman said the sole textual change the Council accepted in the work session was to change the wording from "more than four" units to "five or more" units for the multi-family threshold. The ordinance will be returned for a formal first reading under the city's standard three-reading process.

The council did not take a final vote on the ordinance at this session; staff will prepare the revised draft and a proposed timeline for formal readings and any monitoring tools or forms needed for compliance reporting.