Mayor Fuller released this via her email newsletter on Wednesday.
Building Green in Newton
Two new “building energy efficiency” ordinances will help make Newton greener. The City Council passed the new ordinances on Monday.
One ordinance allows homeowners and small property owners to be exempt from specified zoning rules to increase the energy efficiency and sustainability of their homes and businesses. For example, a small vestibule can now be built on the front entrance of a house without the usual amount of setback between the home and the property line that zoning usually requires if it increases energy efficiency. Another example involves solar panels which can now be added to the roof of a home even if the panels slightly exceed the usual maximum height requirement.
Another ordinance requires developers of large projects in Newton (20,000-square-feet and above) to commit to a higher level of sustainability. Their buildings will have to be certifiable through a green rating system such as LEED, Passive House or Enterprise Green Communities. Certification includes requirements ranging from electric appliances, energy efficient heating and cooling systems to water saving measures and solar.
The Friday before Christmas (and *after* BU’s student journalists have gone home for the holiday break) also seemed an ideal time to soft-announce the end of free curbside bulk trash removal. How do people feel about fee-for-use compost and bulk items?
This change is significant, especially for apartment dwellers, managers of multi-unit buildings and seniors moving house. Will they get any more direct notification of these fees and when they take effect? Perhaps it’s time for another report from Waste Management on how effective all these waste reduction, recycling and sustainability programs are in the Garden City.
The cost of throwing stuff “away” is going up, and many councilors would like Newton residents to think more carefully about how to dispose of unwanted furniture–so less of it ends up at the incinerator.
Council voted to impose a $20 fee for bulky items left on the curb for pickup and $25 for white goods (appliances). All our surrounding communities charge at least $25 per pickup, if not per item, and only a few Newton residents use this service regularly.
Like having to pay a fee for each bag you get at the supermarket, this fee is intended to prompt thought, not to penalize residents—and there are many free ways to dispose of most usable stuff:
Craigslist, if you think you can get money for it;
Freecycle or the Newton Swap Shop if not.
To know: If you put items out for a scheduled pick up and someone else picks them up to re-use, you still pay the fee (because it costs Waste Management, our contractor, to send a truck to you).
I think the timing was interesting. Schools are closing now until January 2 and people have their minds on the holiday season.
@Andrea Downs–
You are the second City Councilor I’ve seen use the exact same language to defend the City Council’s shopping bag tax… “just to prompt thought, not to penalize residents.” Do you actually believe that nonsense? The bag fee not only seems punitive to me, but it undercuts the power we all have as consumers to directly influence the way retailers do business with us.
Interestingly, the other Councilor I saw using the exact same bag fee language–“just to prompt thought, not to penalize residents,” was Breda Noel. Brenda apparently understands how much influence consumers can have directly on a grocery store, because she suggested she would no longer buy lunch at a Whole Foods if the manager didn’t curtail a signature gathering effort outside the store.
I think we’d both support Brenda’s right to use her power as a consumer in the way she did. Why don’t you support my right as an informed consumer to decide what kind of bag I want at the grocery store? Does the government really need to be involved in nickel and dime decisions that rightfully belong to consumers?
@Mike Striar I think they succeeded at both- prompting thought and penalizing residents. It’s a twofer.