Charlottesville Needs to Get Serious about Climate
While Charlottesville set its ambitious greenhouse gas reduction target of a 45% reduction by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050 in July of 2019, we still do not have a Climate Action Plan, and the City’s recently released draft of the Comprehensive Plan falls short in prioritizing climate.
160 local residents have signed onto C3’s letter asking Charlottesville to adopt a climate lens in the City Comprehensive and Strategic Planning processes to date, and dozens of speakers have come before Council this fall echoing this request. Here are three things you can do to help:
Add your voice to our letter asking for a climate lens in Comprehensive and Strategic Planning!
Attend a Comprehensive Planning meeting or a City Council Strategic Planning meeting (November 20, 2020, 11am - 5pm & December 15th, 2020, 11am - 5pm).
READ C3’s Open Letter to City Council below to get informed and get involved!
Dear Mayor Walker, Vice-Mayor Magill, and Councilors,
This year has tested our ability to adapt to unprecedented circumstances. Despite the many uncertainties faced year-round, Charlottesville continued to plan for the future and is currently receiving community feedback for the draft versions of its Affordable Housing Plan and Comprehensive Plan.
The Community Climate Collaborative (C3) welcomes both drafts. Thanks to the careful work of the external consulting team, City staff and the Comprehensive Planning Committee, several of our community priorities have been skillfully captured and addressed by the documents. However, regarding the Comprehensive Plan, the following areas can be strengthened:
Guiding Principle “Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability”
The Guiding Principles should address climate action.
Vision Statements:
Land Use, Urban Form, and Historic Preservation.
Housing.
Environment, Health, & Energy.
Guiding Principle “Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability”
Summary: The external consulting team shrewdly proposed the development of “Guiding Principles” that would describe “priorities that may not be limited to only one topic-specific chapter”. Climate policies are a perfect example of cross-cutting priorities, touching every aspect of our community – our health, our food, our economic well-being, and the affordability of our homes and businesses. Despite the aforementioned and the leadership-level climate goals of Charlottesville, climate action was not mentioned in the description of any of the proposed Guiding Principles.
Specific Recommendations:
The Guiding Principles Should Address Climate Action: Climate Change is not a taboo concept, and we must not shy away from mentioning it. When talking about cross-cutting priorities, climate action should be mentioned. In particular, C3 recommends the following insertions to the description of the “Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability” Guiding Principle in underline:
“The City should continue to reduce its environmental impact, improve air and water quality, and work towards securing a safe climate as part of all efforts related to the built and natural environments. Charlottesville’s residents, institutions, and businesses should also be empowered to reduce their environmental footprint, cut their greenhouse gas emissions, and benefit from energy efficiency efforts (…)”.
Vision Statements
Summary: C3, members of our community and the City of Charlottesville itself share the common vision to protect the health and vitality of our community against the adverse effects of climate change. The future of our community, our children, and our legacy depends on how seriously we commit to tackling this environmental and sociopolitical crisis. The new Comprehensive Plan of Charlottesville should adopt a climate lens that serves as a guide for the prioritization of intersectional solutions that simultaneously advance multiple City goals.
Specific Recommendations:
Land Use, Urban Form, and Historic Preservation: This vision statement should include a climate lens by clearly expressing (C3’s recommended additions in underlined text):
“Through the City’s land use and urban design plans, policies, and regulations, including zoning, Charlottesville will strive to (…), reduce greenhouse gas emissions, support an efficient transportation network, improve location efficiency, promote infill development, and increase commercial vitality.”
“Charlottesville will be a ‘living’ community with amenities and spaces that are welcoming, human-scaled, sustainable, location efficient, well-utilized, equitable, and beautiful. (…).”
Housing: This vision statement should include a climate lens by clearly expressing (C3’s recommended additions in underlined text):
“The City of Charlottesville will recognize the importance of housing (…). Housing affordability should focus on strategies such as energy equity, that enable expanded population reach, higher economic savings per household, and faster implementation that reduces waiting time for households to be benefited.”
“Housing policies and plans will (…). The Charlottesville community will make clear steps toward addressing affordability, energy affordability, homelessness, and displacement of people from their neighborhoods, with an end result of culturally and demographically diverse and thriving neighborhoods.”
Environment, Health, & Energy: This vision statement warrants an additional bullet with a climate lens which states :
“Charlottesville will be a climate leader, by increasing the share of greenhouse gas emission reductions achieved as a consequence of City policies and programs, and by advocating at the state level to expand Charlottesville’s ability to support climate action, and by showing the way for similar municipalities to lead on climate. The Charlottesville community will make ambitious progress toward meeting the goal of citywide carbon neutrality by 2050.”
The Comprehensive Plan, the Strategic Plan, and the upcoming Climate Action Plan are all blueprints for future decision-making that offer opportunities to address multiple community goals simultaneously. We cannot wait another 5 years to get serious about Charlottesville’s commitment to meeting its climate goals and tackling the climate crisis.
We are grateful for this opportunity to send you recommendations regarding the draft Comprehensive Plan and we hope you will consider and agree with the suggested amendments. We are certain that our City has the necessary leadership, creativity, and community resources that will allow us to tackle many of these important issues together.
In community,
Susan Kruse, Executive Director, and Caetano de Campos Lopes, Director of Climate Policy