ATLANTA —Restaurateurs are fighting city officials over proposed legislation that would require businesses here to make their establishments more eco-friendly and drive up costs significantly.
The ordinance, which is the brainchild of Sustainable Atlanta, a private, nonprofit group dedicated to reducing the city’s carbon footprint to zero by the year 2030, has been in the works for about a year. If passed, it would mandate that all commercial buildings and residential dwellings three stories or higher comply with either Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, certification standards or specifications set forward by Atlanta’s own sustainable building standards. —Restaurateurs are fighting city officials over proposed legislation that would require businesses here to make their establishments more eco-friendly and drive up costs significantly.
The legislation is among the first of its kind in the United States, although more jurisdictions are considering green-building ordinances. According to the National Restaurant Association, Connecticut lawmakers enacted a law in January requiring new commercial properties costing $5 million or more and renovated structures costing $2 million or more be LEED certified. The city of Chicago also had considered a green-building ordinance, but it was not enacted. —Restaurateurs are fighting city officials over proposed legislation that would require businesses here to make their establishments more eco-friendly and drive up costs significantly.
Observers note that while the goals of such ordinances are laudable, the timing couldn’t be worse for recession-weary businesses. —Restaurateurs are fighting city officials over proposed legislation that would require businesses here to make their establishments more eco-friendly and drive up costs significantly.
“My concern is the playing field out there right now,” said Holly Elmore, executive director of the Atlanta-based Green Foodservice Alliance, a division of the Georgia Restaurant Association dedicated to promoting sustainable practices in the restaurant industry. “This is such a challenging time for restaurants. It’s a fragile time in our industry. The building owners are hurting now, too, so I don’t think this is the time to do this type of required action.” —Restaurateurs are fighting city officials over proposed legislation that would require businesses here to make their establishments more eco-friendly and drive up costs significantly.
The Atlanta legislation’s main objectives are to encourage business owners to cut down on energy and water usage as well as to focus on future site development, construction and operations, indoor environmental quality and their buildings’ impact on the atmosphere. It also would reduce the city’s carbon footprint by 7 percent over the next three years, according to proponents. —Restaurateurs are fighting city officials over proposed legislation that would require businesses here to make their establishments more eco-friendly and drive up costs significantly.
If the Atlanta legislation passes, building owners would be responsible for ensuring the conversion to sustainable standards, said Dexter Chambers, a spokesman for the city council. That means restaurant operators who do not own the real estate where their businesses are located would have to make sure their leases or contracts state they wouldn’t be responsible for the renovations, he noted. —Restaurateurs are fighting city officials over proposed legislation that would require businesses here to make their establishments more eco-friendly and drive up costs significantly.
“The owner of the building would have that responsibility unless it was otherwise negotiated in the lease,” Chambers said. —Restaurateurs are fighting city officials over proposed legislation that would require businesses here to make their establishments more eco-friendly and drive up costs significantly.
He added that Atlanta’s Bureau of Buildings would enforce the sustainability code in order to ensure compliance but noted he didn’t know what kind of fine or punishment would be attached to noncompliance. Chambers further stated that businesses could be required to close while renovations are conducted, but that would “depend on the amount of work needed to be done and the decision of the inspector. This is still a work in progress,” he said. —Restaurateurs are fighting city officials over proposed legislation that would require businesses here to make their establishments more eco-friendly and drive up costs significantly.
Those who oppose the bill say it needs more fine-tuning before passage should even be considered. —Restaurateurs are fighting city officials over proposed legislation that would require businesses here to make their establishments more eco-friendly and drive up costs significantly.
“There needs to be more due diligence on this before the city council can even consider passing it,” said Keisha Carter, director of public affairs for the Georgia Restaurant Association. “There is a lot of political play going on with this thing, but we’re trying to stay on top of it and be heard. There is major concern that it will pass, but the members of the city council must come to realize it’s not in any shape to be passed just yet.” —Restaurateurs are fighting city officials over proposed legislation that would require businesses here to make their establishments more eco-friendly and drive up costs significantly.
If passed, this legislation would not only change Atlanta’s building code, but also greatly increase the costs involved with new restaurant builds as well as remodels, Carter said. Operators likely would see building costs rise by double digits, she noted. —Restaurateurs are fighting city officials over proposed legislation that would require businesses here to make their establishments more eco-friendly and drive up costs significantly.
“We are estimating it would cost restaurateurs in this city between 12 percent and 18 percent more [than they are paying now] to comply with this ordinance,” she said. “That would be particularly difficult for independent operators.” —Restaurateurs are fighting city officials over proposed legislation that would require businesses here to make their establishments more eco-friendly and drive up costs significantly.
In its current form, the ordinance would allow businesses a grace period of two and a half years to meet the sustainable requirements, but Carter said no one is prepared for the financial fallout that would accompany such sweeping legislation. —Restaurateurs are fighting city officials over proposed legislation that would require businesses here to make their establishments more eco-friendly and drive up costs significantly.
“This would have a major impact, especially on independent restaurateurs,” she said. “Many of those [operators] start with a dream, go in with one cost in mind, and now, if this passes, they’ll have to deal with higher costs and may end up saying it’s not worth it to do.” —Restaurateurs are fighting city officials over proposed legislation that would require businesses here to make their establishments more eco-friendly and drive up costs significantly.
Carter indicated that more financial incentives, such as tax credits, reductions in the cost of getting a business license or permit fees, must be included in the ordinance for it to become more attractive to business owners, who are already struggling in the down economy. —Restaurateurs are fighting city officials over proposed legislation that would require businesses here to make their establishments more eco-friendly and drive up costs significantly.
“There are no financial incentives involved with this,” she said. “The city is experiencing a major budget shortfall and can’t afford them, but [the restaurant community] can’t financially afford to do this either.” —Restaurateurs are fighting city officials over proposed legislation that would require businesses here to make their establishments more eco-friendly and drive up costs significantly.
For this reason, market-driven incentives are preferable in promoting sustainability, said Elmore of the Green Foodservice Alliance. —Restaurateurs are fighting city officials over proposed legislation that would require businesses here to make their establishments more eco-friendly and drive up costs significantly.
“We are so honored and pleased at how the restaurant industry has stepped up and voluntarily implemented so many sustainable initiatives,” she said. “We would much rather go with market-driven incentives rather than mandates.” —Restaurateurs are fighting city officials over proposed legislation that would require businesses here to make their establishments more eco-friendly and drive up costs significantly.
A city council committee, which was expected to address the sustainable ordinance at a formal meeting Sept. 29, postponed the discussion until the week of Oct. 19, when it will again be up for review.— [email protected] —Restaurateurs are fighting city officials over proposed legislation that would require businesses here to make their establishments more eco-friendly and drive up costs significantly.