Final Report: San Miguel County Sustainability Inventory San Miguel County Sustainability Inventory Page 1 San Miguel County Sustainability Inventory Funders San Miguel County Town of Telluride Town of Mountain Village Telluride Foundation San Miguel Watershed Coalition Project Managers Nina Kothe Town of Telluride Kim Montgomery Town of Mountain Village Dave Schneck San Miguel County Project Facilitation Ryan Bell Margit Hentschel ICLEI U.S.A. Data Collection Thomas Wirth, Researcher Writers Margit Hentschel Katharine Walden ICLEI U.S.A. Acknowledgements We are grateful for the contributions from the Telluride Foundation, the San Miguel Watershed Coalition, Town of Telluride, Town of Mountain Village, and San Miguel County Staff, and all of the citizens who generously volunteered their time to this effort. © 2006 ICLEI — Local Governments for Sustainability U.S.A., Inc. All rights reserved. San Miguel County Sustainability Inventory Page 2 Table of Contents Executive Summary …………………………………………………………………….... 3 Introduction …………………………………………………………………….... 5 Local Background …………………………………………………………………….... 6 Project Methodology …………………………………………………………………….... 7 Report Format …………………………………………………………………….... 9 Demographic Profile …………………………………………………………………….... 10 Economy …………………………………………………………………….... 13 Housing …………………………………………………………………….... 23 Procurement …………………………………………………………………….... 29 Urban Vitality …………………………………………………………………….... 31 Arts & Culture …………………………………………………………………….... 36 Health …………………………………………………………………….... 41 Safety …………………………………………………………………….... 46 Education …………………………………………………………………….... 51 Transportation …………………………………………………………………….... 56 Recreation …………………………………………………………………….... 62 Civic & Municipal Involvement …………………………………………………………………….... 66 Water & Wastewater …………………………………………………………………….... 72 Air …………………………………………………………………….... 78 Land …………………………………………………………………….... 85 Waste …………………………………………………………………….... 88 Energy …………………………………………………………………….... 93 Biological Resources …………………………………………………………………….... 101 Future Steps & Prioritization …………………………………………………………………….... 105 Parting Thoughts …………………………………………………………………….... 107 Endnotes …………………………………………………………………….... 108 San Miguel County Sustainability Inventory Page 3 Executive Summary This Sustainability Inventory provides a review of the Town of Telluride, the Town of Mountain Village, and San Miguel County. These entities are working in collaboration toward becoming sustainable and balanced between the three tenets of sustainability; economic, environmental, and social well-being. This report was funded jointly by the three governments as well as the San Miguel Watershed Coalition and the Telluride Foundation, and provides an excellent example of public/private partnership. A sustainable community is one where the integrity of its natural resources is maintained over the long term, the economy is prosperous, and residents enjoy a high quality of life. This report explains each tenet separately in order to discuss them in further detail, with the understanding that true sustainable action occurs through the simultaneous interaction of all three. The Inventory was developed from data compiled from San Miguel community meetings, individual interviews, factual records, and visioning meetings or focus groups. It offers a snapshot in time and identifies ways in which the San Miguel communities can become even more livable, affordable, and attractive to their residents, visitors, and businesses. It also offers guidance for the local governments and community organizations to work together towards the shared goal of improving the quality of life within San Miguel County. By establishing a factual profile of community resources, staff can simultaneously evaluate the impacts of their policy decisions on the local economic system, natural resources, and resident well-being. Report findings show that San Miguel County has made many positive strides in designing and maintaining itself as a sustainable region. The overall interest and commitment shown by San Miguel County citizens is unsurpassed in a community of its size. Findings also revealed that the most immediate challenges threatening advancement of sustainability can be found in the region’s lack of affordable housing, a deficit of economic diversity, and only moderately sufficient for the health of the San Miguel Watershed. Also, the existing number of non-profit organizations working on elements of sustainability is unparalleled. Finding a way to weave all of these efforts together into an effective and comprehensive plan requires a coordinated effort. The data was reviewed to evaluate both positive and negative trends in community sustainability. Positive trends were highlighted under the themes of Air Quality, Arts & Culture, Community Involvement, Education, Recreation, and Safety. Greater challenges to sustainability were uncovered in the Biological Resources, Economy, Housing, Recycling, and Transportation chapters. The San Miguel community wants to prioritize things that represent timely investments, and have significant and positive impact on the community. Two of the largest concerns in this area include the preservation and enhancement of business core districts, and the development of affordable housing. Other priorities outlined by the San Miguel County Sustainability Inventory Page 4 community can be placed inside the three tenets of sustainable practice as follows. The San Miguel County community is keenly aware of the social welfare issues that are present and hold them in high priority. Of primary importance to the communities are the development of affordable housing; increasing the number of regional preschools; building more programs for senior citizens; enhancing prenatal care; elevating the priority of programs that address domestic violence, drug and alcohol awareness and intervention; and integrating more resources for the Hispanic community. Economic priorities include diversification of the regional economy and preservation of the downtown business core areas of all communities in San Miguel County. Also noted was the desire to assess second homeowner impacts. Environmental emphasis was on assessing watershed integrity and usage, setting target reduction goals for greenhouse gas emissions, and increasing solar and wind usage. Citizens would like to see priority given to developing a feasible construction recycling program as well. Finally, the two key recommendations from this report are: 1) to create a regional Sustainability Coordinator position; and 2) to develop and implement a “Sustainability Action Plan”. The Sustainability Coordinator would be tasked with working with all of San Miguel County’s jurisdictions to transform the knowledge gathered for this document into tangible actions. In the Sustainability Action Plan, quantitative and qualitative goals and targets for indicators would be selected, implemented, and evaluated for continual improvement. The key steps in developing an “Action Plan for Sustainability” are to develop goals and quantitative targets for a list of priorities chosen by the community and governments. A vital companion to the Sustainability Action Plan is a robust public education and outreach campaign. Intergovernmental cooperation and collaboration are imperative to realize success, and this report should be used as a basis for launching sustainability discussions among all of San Miguel’s residents. This report provides many recommendations that will assist San Miguel County in addressing concerns that affect all of its residents. Understanding the state of community resources and the causes of their degradation helps to ensure that new policies do not further stress resources. Building on this elevated understanding of current conditions, there is a much stronger likelihood that new policies, practices, and programs will be of overall greater benefit to the community. San Miguel County Sustainability Inventory Page 5 Introduction A sustainable community is one where the integrity of its natural resources is maintained over the long term, the economy is prosperous, and residents enjoy a high quality of life. The Towns of Telluride, Mountain Village, and San Miguel County are collaboratively working towards becoming a sustainable community by reaching a balance of the three tenets of sustainability; economic, environmental, and social well-being. This report and the findings it contains are intended to provide the following: a snapshot profile of the current state of the region; the issues it faces; practices in place; strides being made; and the barriers that the community faces now and in the future. In March 2005, with funding assistance from The Telluride Foundation and The San Miguel Watershed Coalition, San Miguel County and the towns of Mountain Village and Telluride contracted with ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability U.S.A. to conduct this Sustainability Inventory. The Sustainability Inventory is the first step towards developing a long-term sustainability initiative within the San Miguel region to realize the collective goals of maintaining the integrity of natural resources and enhancing the social and economic quality of life. Only after developing an understanding of the state of the community can the local governments in the region develop a holistic and effective action plan for moving forward. To pursue the vision of greater community sustainability, local governments must develop policies and promote practices that conserve natural resources