What is a Sustainable City?

1. What is a Sustainable City? A sustainable city meets its current economic, environmental and social needs without compromising the ability of future generations to do the same.

2. Santa Monica Sustainable City Plan Purpose The Sustainable City Plan was created to enhance our resources, prevent harm to the natural environment and human health, and benefit the social and economic well-being of the community for the sake of current and future generations

3. Sustainable City Plan – Historical Overview  Proposed by City staff and the Task Force on the Environment in 1992  Adopted by City Council in September 1994  Comprehensive Update in 2001-2002 • Update Adopted by Council February 2003 • Revised Plan Adopted October 2006

4. Sustainable City Plan – What Is It? Long-TermCity Council Adopted Policy  Developed Separately From General Plan • SCP Goals and Indicators Inform Update of General Plan Elements • Housing Element • Open Space Element • Conservation Element • Land Use and Circulation Elements

5. Sustainable City Plan – Structure  Guiding Principles (10)– Statement of commitment • Goals Areas (8) – Areas of focus for both municipal operations and the community as a whole • Goals – Provide detailed vision for community sustainability in that area; operational focus • Indicators – Measure progress toward goals • Indicator Targets – Help drive implementation

6. Examples – Goal, Indicator and Target • Guiding Principle- Environmental quality, economic health and social equity are mutually dependent • Goal Area – Resource Conservation • Goals– Decrease consumption of materials, water, energy and fuels. Encourage the use of local, renewable resources. • Indicators– Total citywide water use; percent local vs. imported; potable vs. non-potable. • Targets– Reduce overall water use by 20% by 2010 (2000 baseline); increase percentage of locally obtained water to 70% of total by 2010.

7. Resource Conservation Environmental and Public Health Transportation Economic Development Housing Open Space and Land Use Community Education and Civic Participation Human Dignity Sustainable City Plan – Goal AreasGoal Areas represent commitments for both municipal operations and the community as a whole

8. Resource Conservation Goals: Decrease consumption of non-local, non-renewable, non-recyclable energy, water, materials and fuels / Promote renewable resource use • Waste diversion decreased from 67% in 2004 to 62% in 2005 • Water use remains stable, but higher than target levels • Energy use remains stable • 1 new LEED project • Solar Santa Monica installed 20 projects • 3 million pounds of food waste collected from Santa Monica restaurants • Need more community participation in resource use reduction

9. Environmental and Public Health Goals: Minimize/eliminate the use of hazardous and toxic materials and the levels of pollutants entering the air, soil and water • City toxic-use reduction programs are national models • Visitors to the HHW Facility kept 133,000 pounds of waste out of landfills • More than 1,000,000 people visited our four farmers markets • 32 million gallons per year of recycled water • Posted beach warning and pollution have increased • Citywide sewage flows are up since 1999

10. TransportationGoals:Maximize mobility and access / Reduce traffic and pollution associated with transportation • AVR for business exceeds regional levels and the sustainable city plan target! • Over 82% of fleet transitioned to alternative fuels • Municipal BBB is 100% alternative fuels • Free bike valet program parked more than 16,000 bikes • Bus rider ship is stable and high for the region • Traffic and congestion are bad in many parts of the city

11. Open Space and Land UseGoals: Develop and maintain a diverse open space system that supports the community and the natural environment. • More than 9 acres of new open space added this year • Size and diversity of community forest has increased 17% since 1995 • 90% of residents live within ½ mile of park/open space • Most recent development activity has been mixed-use • Ongoing commitment to open space & mixed use development tied to LUCE

12. Community Education & Civic ParticipationGoals: Community members participate actively and effectively in civic affairs and community improvement efforts • Citizen participation is strong in both civic affairs and community events • More than 12,000 people attended this year’s zero waste community festival • Voting rates are higher than County, State and Federal averages, but off year voter participation is marginal • Almost 50% of residents attended an arts or cultural event

13. “We ignore the things we don’t track” Develop an understanding of sustainability performance Foster a community dialogue around sustainability issues Create a prioritized Plan for action Educate and inform decision making Why a Sustainable City Plan?

14. Sustainable City Progress Report www.smepd.org/scpr

15. Sustainable City Progress Report • Annual Report • Provides detailed data on each indicator • Designed as a tool to aid decision making • Provides information about the overall sustainability of the community • www.smepd.org

17. Sustainable City Report Card • Annual Report • Based on Indicator Data • Primary grade reflects the progress on the part of the community to meet the SCP goals in each goal area • Secondary grade represents the level of effort currently focused on achieving the goals

18. SCP Oversight / Plan of Action • Sustainable City Task Force • 11 member community panel • Advise Council and staff during development and adoption of SCP Implementation Plan • Assist with outreach to various community constituencies • Promote community action

19. SCP Oversight / Plan of Action • Sustainability Advisory Team • Interdepartmental staff team • Oversee development of SCP Implementation Plan with a focus on City operations • Facilitate implementation of actions at all levels to help achieve SCP goals