Mayor's Environmental Advisory Committee

Did you know...

The City of Jacksonville's Mayor, John Peyton, regularly meets with members of various environmental groups to discuss the needs of the North Florida region in terms of land use, stewardship, smart growth, conservation, green building, and overall sustainability?

I was pleased to learn that this is the case after receiving an invitation from the Mayor's office to participate on behalf of the US Green Building Council's North Florida Chapter. As many of you know, I serve as the current Vice Chair of the chapter, was chair of the Public Advocacy Committee and briefly served as Regional Representative to the Florida/Carribean Council. Needless to say, my passion for green building was tied closely to legislation and municipal ordinances. After nearly two years of committed focus on assisting with the Sustainable Building Ordinance, I am pleased to say it passed and Jacksonville is now among many other cities embracing green building and offering incentives to those pursuing a third-party certification.

Go Jacksonville!

As you can imagine, I was thrilled to receive the invite to participate.

Among those organizations represented:

• US Green Building Council North Florida
• The Jacksonville Arboretum
• Greenscape
• St. Johns Riverkeeper
• North Florida Land Trust
• The Trust for Public Land
• The River Alliance
• Sustainable Jacksonville
• Sierra Club
• Timucuan Preserve
• The Public Trust
• Museum of Science and History

The format was a round table discussion with Mayor Peyton leading the conversation which addressed the master plan for the Riverwalk, the Stormwater Fee program, stimulus money, Reality Check, and the City's commitment to conservation measures on an administrative level. Derek Igou, COJ's Sustainability Officer, and Vince Siebold with the Environmental Quality Division, were also on hand to offer insight.

The bottom line is there's a lot of great things happening in the City yet we still have far to go.

As was stated at the meeting, with so little in the way of budget and available money, the best thing we can do right now is plan for a sustainable future. What should the plan look like for when the cash is flowing again? How do we plan for smart growth and low impact development before development ramps up again?

What do we need to do right NOW to ensure future development is executed responsibly?

The Mayor's Environmental Advisory Committee is meeting again in July to continue this conversation and keep up the momentum.

So, what do we need the City to know and what what we can provide for them so that they can execute our plan for environmental stewardship, smart growth and green building?

Let's start talking!

Ellen

Park(ing) Day

Oh, this could be fun....

September 21st is Park(ing) Day. Here's a blurb from Sierra Magazine:

"On September 21, your city may have a little more green space than usual -- at
least for an hour or two. Sparked by the "art-ivism" of the San Fransisco-based group Rebar, people around the world will be turning parking spots into temporary parks to reclaim public space from cars." --Sierra, September/October 2007

Here are the suggestions for how to do it yourself:

1. Find a vacant parking space and feed the meter.

2. Roll out a tarp and some sod.

3. Add plants, benches, and other amenities.

4. Chat with passersby and tell them about the project.

5. Clean up your site and reuse or recycle all materials.

Of course, in downtown Jax, you have to manage all this in one hour. But, it does make you wonder... what would they ticket if you went over your time? Your park bench?

Visit the Park(ing) Day website for more information about local, national, and worldwide initiatives. And thanks to Sierra Magazine for sharing the story. And, as always, snaps to The Trust for Public Land for taking it nationwide.

See you at the park on 9/21!