SAFE, CLEAN & GREEN: COCOA’S PATH TO PROSPERITY SUSTAINABILITY ACTION PLAN CITY OF COCOA Adopted OCTOBER 2020 Contents Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................................................ 2 Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................................................................... 5 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................................. 6 What is Sustainability? ....................................................................................................................................................... 7 Other Concepts Important in Understanding Sustainability ................................................................................................. 8 Why Sustainability is Important to Cocoa ........................................................................................................................... 9 Methodology and STAR Community Framework .............................................................................................................. 10 Cocoa's History and Demographics Relate Positively to Cocoa's Sustainability ............................................................... 11 Cocoa's Beautiful Natural Surroundings Relate Positively to Cocoa's Sustainability ........................................................ 12 Sustainability Efforts in Cocoa as of 2018 ........................................................................................................................ 14 Implementation and Measurement of Committee Recommendations ............................................................................... 14 Sources of Funding for Committee Recommendations .................................................................................................... 14 Built Environment .................................................................................................................................................................. 15 Chapter 1: Built Environment ............................................................................................................................................ 15 Equity And Empowerment ..................................................................................................................................................... 18 Chapter 2: Equity and Empowerment .............................................................................................................................. 18 Health And Safety ................................................................................................................................................................. 20 Chapter 3: Health and Safety .......................................................................................................................................... 20 Natural Systems.................................................................................................................................................................... 23 Chapter 4: Natural Systems ............................................................................................................................................ 23 Climate And Energy .............................................................................................................................................................. 27 Chapter 5: Climate and Energy ....................................................................................................................................... 27 Appendix A: Sustainability Policies and Practices as of Summer 2018 ................................................................................. 29 Appendix B: Cocoa's History Relates Positively to Sustainability .......................................................................................... 35 Appendix C: Demographics and Key Statistics about Cocoa ................................................................................................ 41 Population ........................................................................................................................................................................ 41 Age Distribution, 2016 ...................................................................................................................................................... 42 Race, 2018 ....................................................................................................................................................................... 42 Educational Attainment, 2016 ........................................................................................................................................... 43 Labor Force Participation, 2016........................................................................................................................................ 43 Median Household Income, 2016 ..................................................................................................................................... 44 Income Distribution, 2016 ................................................................................................................................................. 44 Poverty, 2016 ................................................................................................................................................................... 44 Median Home Price and Debt-to-Income Ratio, 2020 ...................................................................................................... 45 Renting Cost Burden, 2016 .............................................................................................................................................. 45 Transportation Access, 2020 ............................................................................................................................................ 46 Homelessness .................................................................................................................................................................. 46 Municipal Services ........................................................................................................................................................... 46 Health Care in Cocoa ....................................................................................................................................................... 46 Other Resources in Cocoa ............................................................................................................................................... 47 Recap of Demographics and Key Facts Points to Collaboration ....................................................................................... 47 Appendix D: The Unabridged Sustainability Plan ................................................................................................................. 48 SUSTAINABLE COCOA I pg. 1 Executive Summary Cocoa's history and natural surroundings speak to its brilliant and resilient future! We have all the foundations for being a community of positive change that leads to sustainability. This is Cocoa's first Sustainability Action Plan and Cocoa's first citizen- led project/product. It represents more than 800 volunteer hours in which Cocoans came together as the Sustainability Advisory Committee to creatively identify best practices that will help Cocoa meet the needs of today, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This plan will help the City of Cocoa improve the quality of the city's natural environment and our citizens' ability to enjoy it. It will also reduce the risk posed by natural disasters, lower resource consumption, reduce pollution, increase citizen awareness, and enhance the community's socio-economic and health conditions. These efforts will begin to position Cocoa to build a more diversified and clean-tech-oriented economy in future years, so that during work hours, more citizens can create value and prosperity in a setting they can enjoy in off hours. This document provides context and a summary of goals and initiatives for year one of implementation, as such addressing the "why and the what." Appendix D is a detailed spreadsheet -- "The Unabridged Sustainability Action Plan Accountability Tables" -- that provides the "who, when, how" for the plan. Appendix D describes the goals, objectives, initiatives, champions, and expected outcomes to support measurement and tracking for each initiative in a 2-3 year horizon. The committee anticipates this action plan as the beginning of a habitual and virtuous cycle of citizens joining forces to plan, adapt, and collaboratively implement best sustainability practices for our community with the support of city staff. To pay for these initiatives, the committee anticipates Cocoa will need to re-direct some existing funding. But additionally, a major finding is that Cocoa has opportunities to more vigorously seek grants, inspired by the understanding that some of its strategic challenges enhance its competitive position in winning grants. According to FIT's Dr. Ken Lindeman, Cocoa is one of nearly 30 other municipalities in Florida currently developing or executing a sustainability plan. Cocoa's