Sustainable Urbana: an Approach for Strategic Planning
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT SERVICES Community Development Services m e m o r a n d u m TO: Mayor Laurel Lunt Prussing and Members of the City Council FROM: Elizabeth H. Tyler, AICP, Director, Community Development Services DATE: April 24, 2008 SUBJECT: Sustainable Urbana: An Approach for Strategic Planning Introduction and Background In the midst of dramatic global climate change, increasing consumer demands, and the depletion of available affordable resources, as indicated by the City Council, it is timely and beneficial for the City of Urbana to undertake strategic planning and implementation for sustainability. Sustainability is a framework rooted at the nexus of the environment, society, and the economy. It is a planning tool intended to meet present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Many cities and countries throughout the world have recognized the importance of addressing their environmental footprint in order to be more financially sound and to ensure a high quality of life throughout the long-term future. For over 30 years, the City of Urbana has exhibited an understanding of the importance of minimizing its impact on the environment for ecological, social, and economic benefits. This understanding has been shown through a number of efforts including, being a charter member of the Tree City USA program, maintaining and expanding the U-CYCLE recycling program since 1986, including goals related to sustainability in the Urbana City Council Common Goals Initiative, established in 2005, and becoming one city among 829 that have signed the U.S. Mayor Climate Protection Agreement, which establishes a commitment to meet or beat the Kyoto Protocol target within each city and to urge the state and federal government to enact policies which do the same. Council member Bowersox began a Sustainability Discussion and Initiative in April 2007. Since this initial discussion, Council members and staff have embarked in brainstorming and researching ways to become sustainable. In August 2007, city staff prepared a Sustainable Urbana Report, which compiled contributions from Council members and staff, and examined 14 areas of the City’s operation. The report described objectives, achievements, opportunities, and challenges in a variety of areas. Since the creation of the Sustainability Report, it has become clear that a plan of action is necessary to meet the City’s goal of being sustainable and to meet or 1 beat the Kyoto Protocol target. The attached Sustainable Urbana Approach for Strategic Planning (Exhibit A) builds on the Sustainable Urbana Report presented to City Council in August 2007. The Approach frames Urbana’s Sustainability Initiative within the context of other City plans and achievements. It identifies objectives, provides ideas for an implementation strategy, describes a future course of action and a basis for additional public involvement. This Approach is a step towards ensuring that Urbana has a strong economy, a healthy environment, and a vibrant, safe community for current and future generations. However, additional research and planning is needed to create a systematic strategic plan for incorporating sustainable practices into the City’s standard operating procedures, with the eventual goal of fostering community-wide strategies for sustainability. Discussion Strategic Planning Effectively addressing the growing issues related to environmental, social, and economic health requires a dedicated and systematic approach which incorporates these considerations into the criteria used in decision-making. A Strategic Plan will assist the City in achieving its goals to reduce Urbana’s environmental footprint and increase its ability to meet its needs without compromising the ability of future generations to do so. While Urbana has made significant accomplishments under the umbrella of sustainability, these have resulted largely from individual uncoordinated initiatives. The challenge that lies before the City is to institutionalize sustainable practices into our municipal organizational structure and programming. Applying sustainability evaluations and overseeing successful implementation – both internally and externally throughout the city – is a significant operational and philosophical shift. The breadth of such a change impacts operations spanning from the purchase of office supplies to capital projects and maintenance activities to policy decisions. Creating a Sustainability Strategic Plan will assist in determining priorities and procedures. A Strategic Plan will provide guidance as the City takes responsibility for the impacts of its operations and works to create a livable sustainable community with a high quality of life. The implementation of immediate efforts towards sustainability, while producing quick results, may not produce long-term sustainability and could potentially incur unnecessary financial costs. However, establishing a strategy for the way the City will change its everyday operations and policies to be environmentally, socially, and economically sensitive will foster better and more efficient results throughout time. This strategy will include evaluation criteria (see Chapter 5 in Exhibit A). There are many materials and tools to assist municipalities in undergoing strategic planning for sustainability. Additionally, there are many cities that have succeeded in doing so. The following documents are attached and provide a framework for integrating an awareness of 2 resource consumption and environmental consequences into municipal procedures: • Handbook for Urban Sustainability Chapter 17: Process for Implementing a Municipal Sustainability Plan by D.J. Vanier (Exhibit B) • Sustainability Planning Guide for Illinois State Agencies by the Illinois Green Governments Coordinating Council (Exhibit C) • Toward a Sustainable Community: A Toolkit for Local Government1(excerpt as Exhibit D) • Policy Guide on Planning for Sustainability, by the American Planning Association (Exhibit E). Examples of Strategic Planning for Sustainability Other cities have planned and implemented strategic plans for sustainability. Successful examples include, Madison, WI; Seattle, WA; Portland, OR; and Corvallis, OR. Other comparable cities in the initial planning or implementation stages include, Town of Normal, IL and North Hampton, MA. Goals and Critical Issues Identifying critical issues and establishing goals are part of the strategic planning process. Two priority areas that have been identified are energy and water. Global climate change is currently considered the most serious global threat. The Climate Protection Agreement, signed by Mayor Prussing, sets a goal for the community as a whole. The City is taking the first step towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 7% below its levels in 1990 by collecting baseline data. Further strategies to achieve this goal are needed. Additional partnerships and initiatives are needed to expand this effort to the community as a whole. Water is seen as the upcoming most critical issue facing the world. Further identification of critical issues and goals is needed. Recommendations Because preparing for success requires strategic, comprehensive planning, staff recommends that we continue to evaluate the procedures used in other municipalities and collaborate internally to create a comprehensive process that is suitable for the City of Urbana. The attached Approach for Strategic Planning begins to outline methods that can identify short, medium, and long term actions for implementation, tracking and monitoring progress, and reviewing and revising the strategic plan regularly. However, more time is needed to create a strategic plan. Additionally, if it is the will of the City Council to extend the Sustainability Initiative beyond the City as an institution, a significant public involvement and education effort should be undertaken. 1Toward a Sustainable Community: A Toolkit for Local Government, written by Gruder, Haines, Hembd, MacKinnon, and Silberstein http://www.naturalstep.ca/documents/SustainabilityToolkit_000.pdf 3 The following, taken from Chapter 6: Recommendations in the Approach for Strategic Planning, describe possible actions which can lead the City into a strategic process for developing a sustainability plan. • Establish a green ribbon “Sustainable Urbana Commission” with members representing residents, business, University, utilities providers, and environmental stakeholders. This commission could act as a steering committee for the process of creating a Sustainable Urbana Strategic Plan. • Expand the internal City “Green Team” to include all city departments and assist in furthering the implementation of the Sustainability strategic plan and in developing new ideas. • Complete the Sustainable Urbana Strategic Plan. A community-wide input process is needed to generate ideas for collaborative programs and other citizen-initiated projects. Receiving consultations from professionals in the field of municipality sustainability efforts may assist in facilitating an integrated sustainability plan for the community as a whole. Professions working with The Natural Step, eco-municipalities, or the American Planning Association may offer assistance. • Establish baseline energy consumption for internal City operations. Set realistic short- term and long-term goals to reduce the City’s energy consumption and emissions. • Model carbon emissions for the entire populace of Urbana. The Mayor’s Climate Protection