A London city councillor is trying to entice developers to create more green roofs by asking the city to count them as green spaces.
Councillor Tanya Park told a city committee Monday, she'd like to see a policy/by-law developed that would allow for green roofs to be counted towards developers required landscaping open space.
"Green roofs bring down energy costs for large scale developments and also provide residents an open space amenity that is not readily available in the Urban-downtown context," says Park.
The Ward 13 councillor notes the initiative is a win-win for both developers and the city.
"This would provide an incentive for proponents to install green roofs on their projects without an additional cost to the taxpayer," says Park.
Green roofs are partially or completley covered with vegetation. They include root barriers and drainage and irrigation systems.
City staff will study the proposal and report back to the planning and environment committee at a future meeting.