Meeting Minutes
Kansas City Climate Protection Plan
Policy & Outreach Committee
January 16, 2007
The meeting was called to order at 4:00 p.m., by Tom Jacobs, Chairman. Meeting attendees signed an attendance roster. Tom Jacobs:
• Summarized the reports made to the Steering Committee at their December 2006 meeting, including the high priority strategies for consideration by Policy & Outreach
• Reviewed the schedule of upcoming meetings that will lead to the preparation of the Phase I Climate Protection Plan for submittal to Mayor Barnes and the City Council in early April
• Noted that the presentations scheduled for today’s meeting address some of the topics that generated strong interest at the December 14, 2006 Work Group meeting.
Patty Noll, KCMO Planning Department, made a presentation requested by the committee on revisions being made to the zoning ordinance and subdivision regulations. Some of the key points discussed included:
• The holistic approach to planning including staff, elected officials, stakeholder groups and the general public is the first major comprehensive revision to the zoning ordinance in the last thirty years.
• Existing regulations tend to reflect the urban-renewal, newer-is-better ‘sub-urban’ style growth and auto-dominated development patterns to the exclusion of all other patterns, and do not reflect the diversity or desired development patterns of 21st century city.
• Balance is necessary among development, administrative processes, land use and site design and environmental priorities. Connecting people and places by allowing higher residential densities that will support retail and transit, for example, will encourage economic development along transit routes. Regulating on density rather than lot size to enable cluster, mixed-use and neo-traditional development, reduce lot sizes and setbacks provides more flexibility.
• Developing with nature and establishing resource conservation is a high priority and needs to be woven throughout the code. Regulatory obstacles to green design need to be removed in this process, and water quality and emerging stormwater goals (KC One) need to be advanced. Promote use of stormwater best management practices in landscaping; add landscape and street planting requirements.
With only a brief amount of time available for discussion and questions between or after presentations, there were a few comments / questions:
(Bruce Wiggins) This group may want to consider endorsing the zoning plan in our recommendations for the climate protection plan.
(Donovan Mouton) How does the plan define ‘appropriate’ density, etc.? Response from Patty Noll – That’s really the role of a well defined land use plan for the city, not this zoning ordinance. It was commented that a well defined land use plan does not probably exist that will drive good use of a good zoning ordinance.
(Donovan Mouton) Where the city staff is putting zoning standards for buildings in place, make sure they don’t inadvertently use more energy. (roof pitch, materials, etc.)
Scott Cahail, KCMO Water Services Department, presented on a topic of great interest to the Policy and Outreach Committee: Green Infrastructure and Climate Protection Planning. Key points from his presentation included:
• The evolution of green infrastructure planning efforts in Kansas City includes Metro Green (ASLA, 1991), Stream Asset Inventories (KCMO, 2003), Stormwater drainage standards and BMPs (APWA, 2003), Natural Resources Inventory (MARC, 2005) and the Regional Green Infrastructure Plan (MARC, 2007).
• The Regional Green Infrastructure Plan is a two year project designed to bridge land use planning with watershed management and open space conservation to catalyze more sustainable urban growth and development.
• KC One Stormwater Management Plan addresses 35 watershed management plans through zoning, policy development, NRI buffers and BMPs.
• One of most effective ways to deal with non-source pollution is 10,000 Rain Gardens Initiative. Rain gardens are about 99% effective in capturing, and retaining first flush rainfall. The City is entering into a 2nd year of this – Mayor Barnes has embraced it as her own. The 2nd year coming up with more commercials, more workshops, more technical assistance, more rain barrels available. The intent is to get people to do more on their own – it’s not about the city being involved in everything they do. The website shows people how to develop their own plan and resources to get it done. www.RainKC.com
Participants were also asked to provide, prior to the next meeting, information on education and outreach activities relative to global warming that they are involved in or aware of. Staff will distribute a form to participants for this purpose. Materials are to be submitted to Jerry Shechter by February 1, 2007.
The next meeting is on February 6, 2007.