TITLE
Recommendation to adopt Initiatives, Goals and Actions of the Sustainable City Action Plan; and direct City Manager to prepare the final document for public distribution.
DISCUSSION
The Sustainable City Commission, which advises the City Council on environmental issues such as buildings and neighborhoods, urban nature, transportation, water, energy, waste reduction and green economy and lifestyle, has created the City's Sustainable City Action Plan. The Sustainable City Action Plan is a task to be completed by the Sustainable City Commission according to the work plan approved by the City Council.
Long Beach's Sustainable City Action Plan (Plan) is a comprehensive, citywide framework and is intended to be a tool for creating a sustainable city by helping to guide future operational and policy decisions. The Plan was developed over seven months at public Sustainable City Commission meetings and has had input from departments across the City, including the Port of Long Beach and the Long Beach Water Department.
A draft of the Plan was made available on the City's website along with an online survey designed to solicit feedback from the community. The draft Plan was available for public comment between July 6, 2009 and September 30, 2009. The online survey was a brief eight questions and yielded approximately 100 responses and additional comments.
Additionally, staff built community support by sharing the draft Plan at over 20 community meetings, where the public was invited to comment and provide input to improve the Plan. The draft Plan was provided at all community meetings and online. Staff and the Sustainable City Commissioners also shared the Plan with the City's internal green team, other City Commissions, other agencies and the City Council.
The Plan is intended to be comprehensive, citywide and strategically incorporate multiple interconnected aspects of what it means to be a sustainable city. The Plan includes initiatives, goals and actions that are intended to be challenging and realistic and is organized into seven chapters, including buildings and neighborhoods, urban nature, transportation, water, energy, waste reduction, and green economy and lifestyle. Each chapter includes quantifiable, measurable goals with specific action items, and also provides baseline information and supporting documentation such as graphs, charts and/or diagrams which demonstrate the concepts presented. The Plan will be followed by a citywide Green Report Card, which will show incremental progress toward the goals and metrics provided in the Plan 'and will be published each year during Earth Week (April).
The Plan has been unanimously approved by the Sustainable City Commission on September 24, 2009 and the Council's Environmental Committee on October 27, 2009. This Plan support's the City Council's desire to be a green city and sets priorities for accomplishing this goal. The Plan is designed to be a beacon and a road map for the type of city we want to become and can be used as a tool for guiding the City's operational and policy decisions toward a greener future. This Plan shows that Long Beach is well-positioned for meeting current and future local, regional, state and federal requirements and gives the City a competitive advantage for grants and partnerships moving forward. The Plan is a solid framework to achieve a sustainable city for current and future generations.
This matter was reviewed by Deputy City Attorney Linda Trang January 13, 2010 and Budget and Performance Management Bureau Manager David Wodynski on January 19, 2010.
TIMING CONSIDERATIONS
City Council action is not time critical.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no cost associated with this item. All projects that implement the initiatives recommended in the Plan will come to the City Council for approval along with identified funding.
SUGGESTED ACTION
Approve recommendation.
Respectfully Submitted,
NAME |
APPROVED: |
TITLE |
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PATRICK H. WEST |
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CITY MANAGER |