As part of County Exec­u­tive Ken Ulman’s ini­tia­tive to make Howard County a model Green Com­mu­nity, the County Exec­u­tive intro­duced and the County Coun­cil approved sev­eral pieces of leg­is­la­tion to estab­lish a Green Neigh­bor­hood Pro­gram.  Howard County’s unique and vol­un­tary Green Neigh­bor­hood Pro­gram pro­vides allo­ca­tions for the design and con­struc­tion of homes meet­ing spe­cific environmentally-focused criteria.

Howard County cre­ated a Green Neigh­bor­hood Check­list that pro­vides a list of options to cre­ate a Green Neigh­bor­hood Site and Home.  The check­list includes a vari­ety of envi­ron­men­tally respon­si­ble cri­te­ria such as paths and trails, open space, envi­ron­men­tal preser­va­tion, appro­pri­ate land­scap­ing, water and energy effi­ciency and waste management.

A devel­op­ment project can qual­ify as a Green Neigh­bor­hood if it meets a required num­ber of points on the check­list.  These devel­op­ments can use this cer­ti­fi­ca­tion in pro­mo­tion and mar­ket­ing their com­mu­ni­ties and may also qual­ify for fast track plan processing.

For more infor­ma­tion about the Green Neigh­bor­hood Pro­gram, please visit the web­sites below.

Depart­ment of Plan­ning and Zon­ing
Green Neigh­bor­hood Guid­ance Doc­u­ment for Sites:

Depart­ment of Inspec­tions, Licenses, and Per­mits
Green Neigh­bor­hood Guid­ance Doc­u­ment for Homes: