| Local Policy Description: | Strategy: Foster Mixed Use, Transit-Oriented Development and Redevelopment and Public Open Space through Zoning and Incentives
The City’s Green Ribbon Committee recommendations on open space provide a blueprint for open space preservation and acquisition. In addition, existing natural areas should be conserved, and restored where damaged. Open space should maximize tree canopy cover compatible with proposed uses and be maintained with energy- and water-efficient practices and vegetation. Having access to wilder nature—woods, fields, and beaches—is also important for people who live in the city. If access is difficult, it encourages more out-of-town travel and, for those who can afford them, second homes, creating a negative spiral of more sprawl, less access, more desire for vacation homes, etc.
Possible Actions
Ongoing
• Conduct consistent open space review during the permitting process for development projects to incorporate public open space into project design.
• Provide incentives for planting trees and creating additional green space open to the public as part of new development and major renovations.
• Carry out the recommendations in the Green Ribbon Report.
• Create appealing small-scale public gathering spaces with well-adapted vegetation as part of development and redevelopment projects.
Strategy: Optimize Use of Vegetation to Shade Buildings and Reduce the Urban Heat Island Effect
The tree canopy reduces the urban heat island effect, sequesters carbon, reduces gasoline evaporation from parked motor vehicles, and makes the city more visually attractive. Preserving existing trees is the key to increasing the canopy since mature trees provide significantly more canopy than recently-planted ones. Vines and arbors can also be used in constrained spaces. Removal of CO2 from the air by trees is on the order of 25 tons/tree/year. There are about 13,000 to 15,000 City-owned trees and an unknown number of privately owned trees. It is important to boost maintenance of old trees, as well as to add trees wherever possible. Selection of species adapted to the local environment, and minimizing lawns, keep maintenance and energy costs low. There are multiple benefits to good vegetation maintenance and on-site water management, including avoidance of costs of storm damage and loss of vegetation from droughts, energy savings for building owners, and a pleasant summer environment.
Proposed Actions
Short-term
• Use GIS or other computer imaging, such as the CITYgreen software developed by American Forests, to accurately determine current canopy cover, assess environmental benefits, and plan plantings.
• Increase public education efforts on stormwater management practices, particularly those that complement GHG emission reductions.
• Increase public education on the benefits and proper care of trees.
Medium and Long-term
• Develop and carry out policies and programs to maximize the canopy cover, with special attention to parking lots and other heat-absorbing locations and to shading air-conditioning units. This should include attention to soils, water retention, and appropriate species.
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