Santa Monica Sustainable City Plan

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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

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Sustainable City Plan What Is It?

• ? Long-Term City 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

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Sustainable City Plan Structure

• ? Guiding Principles Statement of commitment
• ? Goals Provide detailed vision for community
  sustainability
• Indicators Measure progress toward goals
• Indicator Targets Help drive implementation
• Implementation Plan Currently being developed
  by SCTF

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Sustainable City Plan Goal AreasGoals
represent commitments for both municipal
operations and the community as a whole

• Resource Conservation
• Environmental and Public Health
• Transportation
• Economic Development

• Housing
• Open Space and Land Use
• Community Education and Civic Participation
• Human Dignity

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Resource ConservationGoals Decrease consumption
of non-local, non-renewable, non-recyclable
energy, water, materials and fuels and promote
renewable resource use

• How Are We Doing?
• Energy use and GHG emissions have risen slightly
  over the past few years
• Reduced citywide water use approximately 6
  between 1990 and 2005
• Increased waste diversion from landfills from 14
  in 1990 to 62 in 2002. Waste generation has
  increased over that period
• In general were doing well when compared to
  other cities but need more participation by
  community institutions and businesses

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Environmental and Public HealthGoals
Minimize/eliminate the use of hazardous and toxic
materials and the levels of pollutants entering
the air, soil and water

• How Are We Doing?
• Bay Health improved significantly since 1990
• permeable land area slightly increased
• Reduced Citywide sewage flows by 14 since 1990
• Hazardous waste collection improving
• VMT increased slightly (1.2) from 1992 2001
• On the whole doing well in this area

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TransportationGoal Maximize mobility and access
/ Reduce traffic and pollution associated with
transportation

• How Are We Doing?
• AVR for business far exceeds regional levels
• Bus ridership has steadily increased over past
  decade
• Over 70 of residents report using alternative
  modes of transportation occasionally
• Traffic is bad in many parts of the city
• Only 3 of arterial streets have bike lanes

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Economic DevelopmentGoal Nurture a diverse,
stable local economy

• How Are We Doing?
• Santa Monica has a strong and diverse economy
• Jobs and Housing are out of balance (increased
  from 1.36 in 1998 to 1.45 in 2001)
• Real cost of living is rising faster than real
  household incomes
• Income disparity is narrowing, likely due to
  gentrification
• No Long-Range Economic Development Plan

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Open Space and Land UseGoals Develop and
maintain a diverse open space system and urban
environment that supports the community and the
natural environment

• How Are We Doing?
• Open Space has increased significantly over the
  last decade
• Size and diversity of community forest has
  increased 17 since 1995
• 88 of residents live within ½ mile of park/open
  space (55 within ¼ mile)
• of residential mixed-use projects within ¼ mile
  of transit nodes data not currently available

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HousingGoals Provide a mix of affordable,
livable and green housing types for people of all
socio-economic, cultural and household groups

• How Are We Doing?
• Housing Affordability for low and middle income
  groups is a major problem in Santa Monica
• New and rental housing affordable to low and v.
  low income people fell from 86 in 1998 to 54 in
  2003

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Key Points

• Sustainable solutions will come from integrated
  planning
• Long-Range Land Use and Transportation Planning
  Should Happen Concurrent with Long-Range Economic
  Development Planning
• Transportation and Traffic Problems Closely
  Linked to Housing and Economic Development
• Sustainable Design and Construction can
  significantly reduce resource use and waste
  generation over the long-term

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SCP Indicators Report

• Designed as a tool to aid decision making at the
  Council, staff and community level
• Provides information about the overall
  sustainability of the community

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For More Information
www.smepd.org