E-Update from the Sustainability Coalition - PLEASE DISTRIBUTE

[Annette Mills]

Corvallis Sustainability Coalition

E-UPDATE

September 11, 2009

 

Welcome to “E-UPDATE” – a twice monthly news brief to keep you informed of the work of the Corvallis Sustainability Coalition and to invite your participation.  Please forward this “E-UPDATE” to members of your participating organization and to other interested individuals. Check our website at www.sustainablecorvallis.org.

 

YOU’RE INVITED TO THE QUARTERLY GATHERING: Presentations by Action Teams and Partner Businesses Sept. 29 at the Library

 

Please mark your calendar for the Corvallis Sustainability Coalition’s next Quarterly Gathering of partner representatives on Tuesday, September 29, from 12 noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library.  The public is invited to attend. 

 

The September 29^th gathering will feature presentations by two of the Coalition’s action teams, Education and Land Use, about the projects they are working on.  In addition, two local businesses that are Coalition partners, T. Gerding Construction and Tyee Wine Cellars, will share what they are doing to help create a sustainable community.  There will be time for questions and feedback from the audience.  Don’t miss this important event!     

 

LAND USE ACTION TEAM: Inventory Is First Step toward Creating Sustainable Neighborhoods

 

With a long-range goal of creating a compact city with walkable, mixed use neighborhoods and functioning neighborhood centers, the Sustainability Coalition’s Land Use Action Team has launched an inventory of existing and planned Corvallis neighborhoods.  The inventory will include all neighborhoods in Corvallis – residential, mixed-use, commercial, and industrial – and will focus on neighborhood amenities, walkability, and bikability.

 

The goal of the inventory is four-fold: 

·         to engage the broader community in thinking about  what makes a more walkable neighborhood and community;

·         to collect data on existing amenities and conditions that will be useful for City staff, City Council, and community members;

·         to prioritize where to improve sidewalks, bike lanes and multi-use paths for enhanced safety and connectivity as funding allows;

·         to raise interest in and support for more mixed-use development in targeted locations (with zoning changes where deemed most appropriate). 

 

At their da Vinci Days “Green Town” booth, the Land Use Action Team recruited more than 80 community members to help with the inventory in their neighborhoods.   The team is seeking additional volunteers, as well as neighborhood associations, scout troops, churches, local schools and OSU classes, to help with the inventory.   

 

Team members have reviewed numerous other community audit/inventory instruments and drawn from them to create an initial draft inventory instrument for Corvallis. The audit tool they have developed for Corvallis neighborhoods is a relatively simple check list for volunteers to use.  The next step will be a review by the City of Corvallis, Community Development staff.  Following that review, the team will train volunteers in the use of the tool so that there will be some consistency between volunteers in implementation.  The data from these audits will provide a baseline to determine what percentage of the City of Corvallis is currently walkable, with mixed use neighborhoods and functioning neighborhood centers and to help the team analyze what and where changes might be made to achieve this goal.

 

For more information or to volunteer to help, contact Susan Morre at susan...@comcast.net.

 

Sustainability Guiding Objectives - A Framework for Decision-making

 

Our community will:

 

1.   Reduce and ultimately eliminate our community’s contribution to fossil fuel dependence and to wasteful use of scarce metals and minerals.  Use renewable resources whenever possible.

2.    Reduce and ultimately eliminate our community’s contribution to dependence upon persistent chemicals and wasteful use of synthetic substances.  Use biologically safe products whenever possible.

3.    Reduce and ultimately eliminate our community’s contribution to encroachment upon nature (e.g., land, water, wildlife, forests, soil, ecosystems).  Protect natural ecosystems.

4.    Support people’s capacity to meet their basic needs fairly and efficiently.