Title
Approving a partial waiver of the Sustainable Building Ordinance for the Primates Mechanical Building at Como Zoo.
Body
WHEREAS, in January 2018, the City Council of the City of Saint Paul adopted the Sustainable Building Ordinance (Ord 17-60, Chapter 81) for (a) New construction or the major renovation of facilities owned or operated by the City of Saint Paul or the HRA, (b) New construction or the major renovation of any facilities of which the city or HRA are, or will become, the sole tenant, and (c) New construction or major renovation of any facilities within the City of Saint Paul receiving more than two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) of city funding; and
WHEREAS, the Ordinance requires that such buildings be certified under LEED for new construction and major renovation; certified silver, gold or platinum; or State of Minnesota B3 Guidelines; certified compliant; or Saint Paul Port Authority Green Design Review (if applicable); and
WHEREAS, the Primates Mechanical Building is an unoccupied accessory building of approximately 900 square feet designed to hold HVAC equipment necessary for the transition to a geothermal system at Como Zoo’s Primates Building, and costs associated with the administration of one of the rating systems as specified in the Ordinance would be disproportionate to the cost of construction of the mechanical building; and
WHEREAS, The requirements of this chapter may be waived, in whole or in part, by the Saint Paul City Council, or, in the event that the expenditure of city funds is approved by the HRA, the HRA board of commissioners; and
WHEREAS, the Primates Mechanical Building will comply with the applicable requirements of the Saint Paul Overlay portion of the Ordinance for an accessory building that will hold equipment for the primary purpose of heating and cooling the adjacent Primates Building; and
WHEREAS, compliance with the relevant requirements of the Overlay portion of the Ordinance can be achieved with lower costs and administrative effort and ensures that the building will conserve energy and divert construction waste from landfills; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, that the City Council hereby waives the portion of the requirement in Chapter 81 of the Saint Paul Administrative Code, that the Primates Mechanical Building at Como Zoo must be certified by one of the specified rating systems in the Ordinance and finds that the building does not need to meet those requirements of the Saint Paul Overlay which are not applicable to an unoccupied accessory building.