Green Zones

• Author: Brandon Hanson
• Pages: 131-134

131Part 3: Fill Regulatory Gaps

GREE N ZON ES

Brandon Hanson (author)

Jonathan Rosenbloom & Christopher Duerksen (editors)

INTRODUCTION

Green zones (also known as “ecodistricts”) are st ationary or oating dis-

tricts created by a local government to promote sustainable practices, to help

reduce environmental impacts, and to help revitalize an area. Green zones

are areas that provide local governments with the exibility to focus on a

variety of issues related to susta inability. For example, a local government

may use green zones to help promote healthy lifestyles, reduce pollution,

and/or provide aordable housing and sustainable jobs. Green zones can be

created in a variety of ways, including zoning a specic area as a stationar y

“Green Zone” or green zones can be drafted to create oating z ones, whereby

a neighborhood can petition to adopt the oating zone.

Local governments can u se multiple strategies within green zones to help

reduce pollution. For example, local governments may give higher scrutiny

for proposed sources of pollution in the green zone and may give priority per-

mits for programs with designations from susta inable regulatory agencies or

third party certications, such as LEED or Living Building Cha llenge (see

ird-Party Certication Requirements).1 When a local government is cre-

ating a green zone some common provisions include signage to deter diesel

truck idling, buer zones for auto related operations from houses, land use

restric tions and others.2 Ma ny of the briefs in this chapter and other chapters

may be incorporated directly into green zones. Local governments should

draft these ordinances in a way that helps create a healthy neighborhood,

remove/reduce existing environmental concerns, develop green economic

opportunities, and enc ourage com munity involvement.3

Green zones can also be a platform to determine if a reg ulation will be

benecial for the city though a pilot project. Green zones can serve as a pilot

to test new sustainable strategies.4 When a local government creates a green

zone, dierent stages of implementation can allow resources to be added