It's official: Denver's Green Roof Initiative has passed. Buildings larger than 25,000 square feet are required to have rooftop gardens.
The Green Roof Initiative was passed on Tuesday, November 7 and starting in January 2018, large buildings in Denver will be required to have rooftop gardens, or solar panels. The iniative passed by a roughly 52.5 to 47.5 vote. Brandon Reitheimer, who spearheaded the initiative, told 9News, "We've gotten a lot of congratulations of this while we were out canvasing for signatures and even all the way to the end." The initiative was included on this year's ballot after Reitheimer and over 60 volunteers collected more than 4,500 signatures. [gallery columns="2" size="large" ids="27085,27084"]
The new sustainability plan is likely to change though, at least according to the Denver Business Journal. Reitheimer said that he thinks they need to "change some of the wording, get more specific about what qualifies as an exemption for existing buildings." Some of the changes may include exempting historic buildings and even some schools that can't afford it.
The city charter allows for the council to make changes, or repeal them all together, to initiatives that have been approved by voters. There's a bit of wiggle room -- the council has six months after the elections and it must be two-thirds majority in favor of those changes.
Not everyone is on board with the plan though. Denver Mayor Michael Hancock said on Wednesday that there's concern the initiative will cost more than they had been anticipating, "in terms of the bond that we did not have programmed in the dollars." Others against the initiative include the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, the Downtown Partnership and more.
For more information on the Green Roof Initiative and what it means for Denver, click here.
What do you think of the Green Roof Initiative? Are your for, or against it? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
