DEPARTMENT: Office of Sustainability
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Douglas Melnick, Chief Sustainability Officer
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: Citywide
SUBJECT:
Resilient SA Action Plan
SUMMARY:
Following the adoption of the SA Tomorrow Sustainability Plan, Office of Sustainability SA evaluated best practices and potential next steps for the development of a Resilient SA Action Plan.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The SA Tomorrow Sustainability Plan is one of three growth-related plans of the City of San Antonio's SA Tomorrow Plan, adopted by City Council August 11, 2016. The Sustainability Plan addresses how the City’s expected population growth will be balanced with our social, economic, and environmental resources. The Sustainability Plan articulates the City’s Sustainability strategy and serves as a roadmap to make our community and municipal operations more sustainable and can be viewed at <http://www.sasustainabilityplan.com>.
The SA Tomorrow Sustainability Plan includes numerous strategies related to resilience and climate and has three resilient-related appendices: the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory, Climate Vulnerability Assessment, and a Climate Trends and Projections Analysis.
On June 7, 2016, the Comprehensive Plan Council Committee passed a motion requesting staff to provide an update as part of the SA Tomorrow Sustainability Plan presentation to City Council at their August 3, 2016 “B” Session, providing best practices, potential scope, and next steps in developing a climate action plan. On September 14, 2016, Transportation Technology and Utilities Committee approved a recommendation by City staff to conduct a public feedback process through April 2017
In order to take a coordinated approach, City Staff have proposed a comprehensive approach to addressing climate by incorporating it with a data-driven plan that focuses on neighborhood-based resilience measures that leverage existing and new resources in areas, such as tree canopy, air quality, flooding, food security, urban heat island, energy use, and emergency preparedness and response to increase community resilience.
ISSUE:
Staff will present a summary of projects completed or underway that impact our community’s resilience, public feedback received to date, what a Resilience SA Action Plan would consists of, potential costs that would be required, and potential next steps.
A city’s resilience is measured as the capacity for individuals, neighborhoods, and whole systems to not only survive but thrive despite disruptions and stresses. These stresses can be as extreme weather events such as flooding, extreme heat, and unexpected economic downturns or other social disruptions. A Resilient SA mitigates potential impacts and is prepared to bounce forward after disruptions.
ALTERNATIVES:
The Committee can recommend deferment to develop a Resilient SA Action Plan or to not proceed with a briefing to full City Council.
FISCAL IMPACT:
If City Council approves City staff to proceed with the development of a Resilience SA Plan, fiscal resources will be required to fund the public input process and professional services to draft the plan. This would range from $200,000 to $400,000, plus additional staff. No funding is identified for this study currently.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends committee discussion regarding the potential transmittal of this item to full council for consideration.