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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Citizens Sustainability Committee 10/19/2011MINUTES PALM DESERT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2011 ********************************************************** CALL TO ORDER Chair Langford called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m. ROLL CALL CITY COUNCIL ACTION APPROVED DFNTIFD Members Present: RECEIVED I F; IP OTIIEIt Bruce Kassler Luke Taylor MEETING DATE John Greenwood �T Ellis "Cleve" LangM11ENT- Robert Leo, Vice-. ' N o o None Eric Freed __ _ ABSTAIN: ' 0e- David Koller _ VERIFIED BY: Ralph Raya Original on File with City Clced's Oflice Members Absent: Joe Norbeck Staff Present: Missy Wightman, Assistant Planner Tony Becker, Administrative Secretary Lauri Aylaian, Director of Community Development Lisa Ream, Recycling Technician Martin Alvarez, Redevelopment Manager Frankie Riddle, Director of Special Programs APPROVAL OF MINUTES Request approval of the August 31, 2011 meeting minutes. Action: Member Leo moved and Member Greenwood seconded approval of the August 31, 2011 minutes. MINUTES PALM DESERT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE October 19 2011 IV. ORAL COMMUNICATION NONE V. NEW BUSINESS A. Plastic Bag ban discussion. Ms. Wightman introduced information proposing an ordinance that would ban plastic bags in the City of Palm Desert. Ms. Wightman referenced a handout that the City of Santa Monica prepared for their ban on plastic bags. It showed the tiers/levels of implementation of the ban and its impact on various sizes of businesses. The City of Santa Monica banned plastic bags from all grocery/retail stores and pharmacies and levied a 10 cent charge for paper bags. The 10 cents is charged to the customer if they don't have a bag for their goods and goes directly back to the stores as an incentive to promote reusable bags to their patrons. Ms. Wightman stated that the produce bags that hold fruit or vegetables would be exempt from this ban. However, the ban may or may not include take-out bags, but that would have to be discussed since using biodegradable bags for take-out might not work if there are liquids in the take-out, and they spill. Ms. Wightman asked for comments. A general comment was made about take-out containers and having them switched to biodegradable. Ms. Riddle and Ms. Ream pointed out that biodegradable containers sometimes disintegrate when in contact with liquids, so that idea might not be prudent. Ms. Ream pointed out that the Coachella Valley doesn't have a dirty MRF facility to handle the Styrofoam or the biodegradable products that would enter the recycle loads. Mr. Kassler began by asking what kind of time frame the City of Santa Monica gave the retailers to comply with this ban. Ms. Wightman stated that the standard time frame is from six months to one year to come into compliance. She also mentioned that the State of California requires CEQA review to study the environmental impacts of such a decision. Based on previous legislation, the City of Palm Desert [most likely] would have to prepare a Negative Declaration before implementing such a ban. It takes about eight months to prepare and would be presented to the City Council before the ban would be 2 MINUTES PALM DESERT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE October 19, 2011 implemented. Ms. Wightman wanted to reiterate that the idea isn't to ban plastic bags and have people use paper; the idea is to have people switch to reusable bags exclusively and if they forget, then a paper bag would be an alternative choice at a cost. Mr. Raya asked what the various businesses in each of the tiers thought of the ban. Ms. Aylaian stated that she recently attended a workshop where Santa Monica gave a presentation on this topic. The City conducted a study showing that implementation of the ban would cost about 25 cents per bag. She mentioned that initially, all the merchants were opposed to this ban. The City refined the ordinance, reduced the per bag charge to 10 cent and passed the money onto the merchants themselves. Once these changes were made, the merchants came on board and the data show that this type of program does indeed work. Mr. Kassler asked how long this took to implement. Ms. Aylaian stated that actual implementation has been within the last 60 days, but the education process to the merchants and the community has been over the last year. Mr. Kassler stated that the success of this program is to mandate that the retailers sell the reusable bags in their stores. Ms. Ream indicated that was already a law in the state that grocery stores and pharmacies of a certain size are required to sell those bags. She also stated that she has recently noticed other stores selling them as well: Marshalls, Ross and Home Goods to name a few. She also mentioned that some comments that she has received about the bags is their washable feature appears to be a selling point. Mr. Greenwood asked if there was a way that the city could provide these bags to people. Ms. Wightman indicated that she recently spoke with Frankie Riddle and Ms. Riddle suggested that '939 funds' could be used for something like this. These funds are exclusively used for the purchase of recycled content products. Ms. Wightman asked the group if the Santa Monica model is something that the committee wants to follow or if they had their own ideas. Mr. Koller stated that he liked the idea, but cautioned the use of the word "tier" because that made people think of higher rates to pay, since that is how water and electrical bills are jargoned. He suggested using another word to indicate the level of implementation or adoption. Mr. Koller also suggested that five cents of the recovery fee should go to outreach. 3 MINUTES PALM DESERT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE October 19 2011 Mr. Freed commented on the implementation of this type of ban in the City of San Francisco. He said that the city council there was unable to come to a decision, so they put it out on a ballot measure for the people to decide. It was overwhelmingly passed and became effective for the whole city, save Chinatown. The city had done a study showing that they spent nearly $750,000 per year on cleaning out the sewer systems from plastic bags. So this ban would certainly help alleviate that. Mr. Freed stated that the ban allowed for the use of biodegradable bags (including PLA-aka 'corn plastic') and left the decision up to the merchants as to what kind of bag they would use. Ms. Riddle stated that was a good policy, but biodegradable might not work well here, since the City of San Francisco has a `dirty MRF" facility whereas the Coachella Valley hasn't one. The biodegradable bags would still contaminate the recycling load. So it might be prudent to promote the reusable bags. Mr. Koller pointed out that if he had the option to just pay 10 cents for a paper bag, then he'd opt to do that. But if he had to pay something like 40 cents for a bag, that would add up for a grocery trip with over five bags. So if the idea is to change people's behavior and have them purchase the reusable bag rather than use paper every time as a convenience, then maybe the charge per bag should be higher. Mr. Leo wanted to know what the city or this committee would do to educate the public. There are many out there who simply don't know or understand all of the implications of this matter. Ms. Riddle stated that an education program already exists for this topic. The city always uses education first and then also employs other measures to bring people into compliance. Mr. Greenwood stated that he personally felt that there would always be those people who just don't want to comply and then it becomes a situation where the city just needs to make a decision, educate people and they will [begrudgingly] comply. Mr. Greenwood also wanted to know if Palm Desert had any figures on what it costs to remove plastic bags from their sewers and gutters like San Francisco did. Ms. Aylaian asked Mr. Koller if he could provide CVWD's information on that for the sewers, and Ms. Wightman would ask the Public Works department if they had any numbers on removal of bags from the storm drains. Ms. Aylaian stated that in the EIR, the only information presented would be the environmental information; any financial impacts aren't part of an EIR. Ms. Wightman quipped that plastic bags are called "urban tumbleweeds". 2 MINUTES PALM DESERT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE October 19, 2011 Mr. Leo reminded the committee that there are those in the city who can't afford to buy reusable bags. He indicated that there are seniors on a fixed income that might not be able to participate and would ask that the city possibly assist this group by giving some bags to those who can't afford it, so they too could participate. Mr. Kassler opined that the discussion is way too focused on cost. His family purchased a few reusable bags a couple of years ago. They haven't been destroyed or even become dirty. He feels that the focus on small dollars such as this is distracting from the overall goal of the ordinance and that is to eradicate plastic bags. Ms. Wightman and Mr. Koller both verified that their grocery bags never get dirty and the washable factor seemed to be a non-isse. Ms. Wightman presented the fact that Sam's Club and Costco already operate without plastic bags and consumers do not expect to bag their items as they leave these stores. They re -use boxes and consumers know this before they enter the store. Mr. Raya stated that the city already has two good models in place: Sam's and Costco. People already are trained to put their groceries in these boxes and take them home. Many of the grocery stores have very large compactors, why not just have them divert some of their boxes for grocery hauls instead of compacting them? Ms. Riddle stated that was a good idea in theory, but when people bring home their groceries in boxes, what happens to the boxes after their use? Mr. Greenwood stated that he worked his way through college at Costco and he knows that people just take their groceries home and then discard the boxes in all sorts of non- stackable ways. He guessed that the boxes (being paper) just end up in the landfill rather than being recycled or reused. Mr. Langford asked Ms. Wightman if she could provide one or two more cities as examples of what they have done in their bag ban ordinances. Ms. Wightman indicated that she previously sent links to members' emails and would resend the link regarding other cities requirements. Mr. Raya wanted to know if CVAG has been contacted and if they will be able to get the word out across the Coachella Valley. Ms. Riddle stated that, so far, nothing valley -wide has been done. Mr. Raya asked what the next steps would be. Ms. Wightman stated that she would draft language for a model ordinance and go before the 5 MINUTES PALM DESERT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE October 19, 2011 City Council asking for their direction. If granted, then the CEQA analysis will be performed, the ordinance finalized and then the education and implementation of the ordinance would begin. Mr. Raya wanted to know if the grocery stores would be invited to talk about how this would impact them. Ms. Wightman stated that would be appropriate, but not before council direction has been granted to move forward. Through a show of hands, members Freed, Taylor, Leo, Koller, Kassler, Raya, and Greenwood stated this was an important topic that needs to be addressed now and recommended the City Council move forward. Member Langford stated he may be on board, but needed to do some more research. B. De-asphaltification and current parking requirements. Ms. Wightman indicated that as of the last meeting where Mr. Freed presented the concept of de-asphaltification, she was asked to provide parking count requirements for various businesses in the City of Palm Desert. To move forward with this concept she wanted to look at the current parking standards and see the various areas parking requirements and verify that they are or are not over parked in their standards. Ms. Wightman asked for volunteers to conduct basic parking studies on their own time at various locations around the city. Nearly every member of the committee volunteered and Mr. Leo mentioned that he had 15 students who would also be available to count parking. Ms. Wightman stated that she has identified structures with separate parking, since it can be difficult for the untrained eye to count shared parking spaces in lots like Target or Trader Joe's where many businesses share a common parking lot. Mr. Kassler stated that Wal Mart should certainly be included in this count because they are one of the largest parking lots and if any project could benefit from de- asphaltification, it would be them. Ms. Wightman state these areas would also be covered under the category, Regional Shopping Districts. Mr. Alvarez wanted to remind those who would be counting that `season' is starting and those counts might be slightly higher than the counts would be in the summer time. Mr. Freed reiterated that to count parking after thanksgiving would skew the numbers. He also stated that his intent of de-asphaltification was to have 1 % of the area devoted to community gardens and 30% of the parking to be on something other than asphalt (like grasspave). N. MINUTES PALM DESERT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE October 19 2011 Ms. Wightman stated these changes would be included as a part of zoning update where policies are not changed, but necessary information updated to reflect current demand and laws. Mr. Greenwood asked what could be changed in the code without having to go before the council. Ms. Wightman stated that if a gas station, for example, is required to have 10 parking spots under the current code and that is over parked, then that could be adjusted. Mr. Kassler asked what the city could do to help, because it wouldn't be feasible to go ask a business to tear up their parking lot after it has been built to the specifications that the city gave. Mr. Leo asked if the city could institute a program like the Fagade Enhancement program, where the city helps a business with the defrayment of some of the costs. Ms. Wightman asked that the committee come up with some ideas for the next meeting about how to incentivize this. She suggested that maybe there should be a maximum parking standard, since there already was a minimum standard. Mr. Freed stated that wouldn't work because large businesses already build to their maximum allowable parking because it's less confusing to calculate. Mr. Kassler stated that he knew of someone high-up in the Wal Mart Corporation who has been testing out the use of pavers in some locations and maybe this person should be contacted to help move this idea forward. Mr. Greenwood stated that he wanted to see a change in the shade ordinance part of a parking lot. He stated that rather than having a tree every six spaces where they didn't provide much shade in the first place, and because many people don't park far out anyways; why not just have all of the trees along the first two rows of the parking lot where everyone parks and have the grasspave out farther. That alone would incentivize people to park closer and would give the trees more room to grow, rather than be in those small 'diamonds'. Ms. Wightman said that is certainly something that the group and the Landscaping Department should look at. Ms. Wightman also stated, other things to consider are the lighting coefficient and the `heat island' effect. These directly and indirectly impact the energy used to heat/cool the buildings. Mr. Freed stated that could be changed by using cool -roofs. Ms. Wightman stated that some of these other changes are policy decisions and would likely require City Council approval. VII. OLD BUSINESS A. Outdoor lighting update. 7 MINUTES PALM DESERT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE October 19 2011 Ms. Wightman stated that she and Mr. Raya have looked through the ordinance and taken out duplicate information that exists throughout various sections. Mr. Raya will be looking at the technical information and then they will report back with their product. B. Construction waste ordinance update. Ms. Wightman stated that the internal review of the ordinance is complete and will be going before the City Council for adoption soon. Mr. Kassler wanted to know if this was the first ordinance that the committee worked on that is going before the City Council. Ms. Wightman stated that this is the first and the Lighting Ordinance would be the second. VI. COMMITTEE MEMBER COMMENTS Mr. Freed stated that he loves the four items that the committee is currently working on and has many more items to add. He also stated that he is available to anyone who needs more information about de- asphaltification. Mr. Taylor stated that he still has issues with the bag ordinance. If it were up to him, he would ban all plastic outright but that he understands that some bags are required because they keep bacteria off food. Ms. Riddle stated that the produce bags are an example: they keep bacteria from settling on the food, where paper bags would help breed bacteria. Mr. Leo stated that he wanted to see this ordinance created, passed and then implemented. Mr. Koller stated that he was chagrin at the bag ordinance at first until he read and viewed the information that Ms. Wightman sent on the Pacific Garbage Island. Now he is for the ban and wants to have many more people see what plastic can do to the food chain and that alone may change their habits. Mr. Kassler commented that he wants to see this ordinance passed and also that he's more excited about the de-asphaltification and wants to see that fleshed out. He also indicated that he is curious to see what the lighting ordinance will look like. Mr. Langford stated that he wanted to see more information on the plastic bag ban and wasn't for forcing people to change to reusable bags. He MINUTES PALM DESERT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE October 19 2011 mentioned that he read that canvas bags carry the most bacteria and germs on them. Ms. Wightman stated that was a good reason for the promotion of washable reusable bags. Mr. Raya stated that gone are the days where we could leave our doors unlocked, our car keys in the running cars and a world without many plastic bags. But now the world is different and this ban is important. Mr. Raya also stated that the lighting ordinance would be forthcoming. Mr. Greenwood commented that he was very proud to work and live in a city that is the forerunner of projects like this. He is anxious to see this ordinance go valley -wide and get support from entities like CVAG. VII. ADJOURNMENT Chair Langford called for a motion to adjourn. Mr. Leo motioned and Mr. Koller seconded. The meeting was adjourned at 11:30 a.m. ANTHONY BECKER Recording Secretary *These minutes, prepared by Tony Becker, have been reviewed and approved by Missy Grisa. Any meeting attendee wishing to address a concern regarding the minutes must do so in writing to Tony Becker within five business days of the issuance of the minutes. Otherwise, these minutes are considered final. 0