El Paso Metropolitan Planning Organization OCTOBER 21, 2016

Transcription

1 El Paso Metropolitan Planning Organization TRANSPORTATION POLICY BOARD AGENDA PROJECT SUMMARY OCTOBER 21, 2016 AGENDA ITEM NO. 13: Report on Resilient El Paso: Urban Land Institute (ULI) Resilience Advisory Panel. ACTION REQUESTED: No action required. SUPPORT INFORMATION: PowerPoint ULI Informational Flyer DISCUSSION/OPTIONS: Item to be reported on during the Transportation Policy Board Meeting.

2 RESILIENT EL PASO OFFICE OF RESILIENCE + SUSTAINABILITY

3 RESILIENT EL PASO VISION: To activate the strength + adaptability of our unique and authentic community in order to build prosperity for our people and sustainability for our city inthefaceofanever changing future. MISSION: To continually catalyze exploration of new ideas with a diverse set of partners leading to the creation and realization of innovative processes, policies and programs that enable a complete systems approach to urban development, community engagement + economic growth.

4 Environmental Economic Social Extreme Heat Eco Tourism Potential Human Health Mitigation Challenges with an CITY RESILIENCE ASSESSMENT Flooding + Green Infrastructure Aging Infrastructure Leveraging Natural assets as economic development drivers Incorporating resilience strategies into economic development incentives emphasis on preventable disease Urban Mobility Expanded awareness and engagement regarding healthy behaviors and active lifestyles

5 HEALTH + WELLNESS PERCEPTIONS ASSESSMENT Lack of mobility across the City of El Paso is a major barrier to human health and the management of preventable disease in our community. While there are many existing activities targeted at outreach and education, stakeholder empowerment seems limited, missing the broader range of stakeholders. Issues surrounding public health services center largely around mobility and access to those services. 4

6 ENVIRONMENT + INFRASTRUCTURE Serious deficiency in the empowerment of a broad range of stakeholders. Community members often express a sense of being powerless to influence large scale planning and development decisions. Lack of comprehensive and consistent preservation of natural and man made assets including the significance of El Paso s historic building and heritage sites. Long term integrated planning was cited as being ineffective due to lack of follow up and inconsistent implementation. PERCEPTIONS ASSESSMENT 5

7 Urban Land Institute Resilience Advisory Panel STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT A resolution that authorizes the City Manager to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Urban Land Institute (ULI) which would allow for the City of El Paso to benefit from the extensive expertise of experts in the field of climate change, to include developers, land use planners, architects, engineers, and other specialists, in the form of an Advisory Services Panel Program to be held in November Strategic Goal 3: Promote the Visual Image of El Paso Strategic Goal 5: Promote Transparent and Consistent Communication Among All Members of the Community Strategic Goal 8: Nurture and Promote a Healthy, Sustainable Community

8 Implement a multi dimensional program focused on helping cities plan for resilience in the face of climate change Administer a specialized resilience themed advisory services panel for selected cities to develop strategies tailored to their communities drawing on international best practices These cost for an advisory services panel of this scale is normally $135,000 because of the support of the Kresge Foundation, ULI is offering this service to the City of El Paso for $25,000. THE ULI OPPORTUNITY 7

9 Think regionally Invest in resilience measures which function both everyday and in times of need i.e. riverside parks or playing fields, which can act as buffers for storm flooding. Ensure access to economic opportunity, transportation, housing Consider new approaches to financing infrastructure Consider new governance structure for resilience planning KEY THEMES TO ADDRESS Ensure community awareness and involvement 8

10 RESILIENCE ADVISORY PANEL Focus on resilience building strategies for a series of sites along the proposed new Active Transportation Loop. Sites are primarily located in a south central El Paso Explore what resilience could look like in terms of real estate development and land use strategy What funding vehicles could be used to activate and expand future investment Exploration of both interagency and public/private partnership vehicles will be key to the project. Integrating discussions of climate risk and resource management with current active transportation and healthy design strategies. Recommendations will be incorporated into the city's resilience work as part of the Rockefeller Foundation's 100 Resilient Cities Initiative

11 A System Approach To create a project that creates a shell for an alternative transportation route across the region, functioning as a wayfinding mechanism highlighting regional assets, creating economic opportunity and addressing social and environmental challenges. Site Evaluation Identify specific resilience challenges Identify other investment (public and private) Focus in on an area of maximum potential OPPORTUNITY FOR EL PASO: ATS 10

12

13 5 Day National Expert Panel including multiple stakeholder and community events ULI Community Presentation outlining preliminary recommendations PROJECT DELIVERABLES Nationally published written report highlighting El Paso s potential and illustrating final recommendations Panel sponsors have used these recommendations and reports to advance the policies, programs, and development projects proposed by ULI. ULI s Urban Resilience Program is also committed to follow up with communities that have hosted Advisory Services panels, and has also advanced follow-up projects in partnership with local ULI district councils.

14 Internal City of El Paso Partnerships Office of Resilience + Sustainability Economic + International Development Department Planning Department Capital Improvement Department External Partnerships Borderplex Alliance County of El Paso Metropolitan Planning Organization Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce El Paso Independent School District Housing Authority of the City of El Paso Central Business Association Downtown Management District OPPORTUNITY FOR PARTNERSHIP 13

15 RESILIENT EL PASO OFFICE OF RESILIENCE + SUSTAINABILITY

16 Resilience Advisory Services Bringing the Urban Land Institute s expertise in land use, real estate, and climate resilience to communities worldwide. PANELS uli.org/urbanresilience

17 Advisory Services on Resilience The Urban Land Institute (ULI) Advisory Services program brings expertise in the real estate and development fields to complex land use planning projects, programs, and policies. In place since 1947, the program offers a unique chance to find practical, unbiased solutions for issues such as community revitalization, downtown redevelopment, provision of affordable housing, regional planning, infrastructural investment, and growth management. These one-week engagements rely on the volunteer labor of ULI s more than 38,000 members. NORFOLK, VIRGINIA With the support of the Kresge Foundation, ULI now offers specialized Advisory Services panels on resilience, which focus on how communities can better prepare and plan for, absorb, recover from, and more successfully adapt to climate risk. These Advisory Services panels focus on finding planning and development strategies that both allow for a quicker, safer return to normalcy after an adverse event and strengthen communities for the long term. Panel scope Norfolk is among the communities in the United States most vulnerable to sea-level rise. The panel focused on resilience strategies for the Fort Norfolk site, a waterfront parcel featuring a range of uses and significant vacant land. Key recommendations Considering the site and the local market, the panelists proposed focusing development around the new light-rail station on the site s edge away from the water. Reversing a previous plan to build up residential and mixed-use development on the waterfront, the panel instead proposed using the waterfront to create open space that would enhance connectivity between the site and other parts of the city while offering water management, recreation, and flood protection benefits. NORFOLK Resilience panels have provided land use and development strategies for vulnerable sites, assessed policy opportunities, and crafted strategies for implementation and funding. Climate risks addressed can include destructive storms, sea-level rise, heat waves, coastal and inland flooding, storm surge, and drought, considering not only the environmental threats, but also the related social and economic impacts. In all cases, the Advisory Services panel teams offer recommendations to both decrease community vulnerability and capitalize on opportunities for improved environmental performance, economic development, and quality of life. A wide variety of public, private, and nonprofit organizations have engaged ULI s resilience advisory services, including city governments, county governments, and local foundations.

18 DULUTH, MINNESOTA How a Panel Works 1 PREPARATION ULI s Urban Resilience Program first works with the panel sponsor to prepare for the panel, including scoping an appropriate focus site and determining key questions. The sponsor is responsible for preparing briefing materials and inviting relevant stakeholders and community members to participate. 2 BUILDING THE TEAM ULI s Urban Resilience Program then assembles a team of panelists, composed of highly qualified professionals who volunteer their time to ULI. A major strength of the program is ULI s unique ability to draw on the knowledge and expertise of its members, including land developers and owners, public officials, academics, designers, planners, green infrastructure experts, housing specialists, and others from across the United States and beyond. Each team features a range of professionals able to provide a holistic and interdisciplinary look at the panel assignment, with all panelists screened to ensure their objectivity. 3 WORKING TOGETHER The panel team then works with the sponsor and community over a five-day period, which includes site tours, presentations by the panel sponsors, an intensive day of stakeholder interviews featuring 50 to 80 participants, and team work days. The panel week concludes with a public presentation of the panelists findings and recommendations. Panel scope The third-largest city in Minnesota, Duluth experienced an extreme rain event in 2012 that led to severe flooding. The Advisory Services panel focused on resilience strategies for the Miller Creek watershed, which includes both the regional retail center and Lincoln Park, a historically low-income neighborhood that suffered extreme damage in Key recommendations The panelists sought to address flooding and environmental impacts while also seeking opportunities for economic development and placemaking. Recommendations included reforesting stream headwaters, restoring channelized streams, and introducing innovative facilities for enhanced stormwater management. The panel also identified key districts for real estate and economic development and proposed means of improving community resilience through decision making, improved communications, and other strategies. DULUTH

19 Deliverables MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA Panel scope MIAMI-DADE COUNTY Miami-Dade County invited ULI to study Arch Creek Basin, a 2,800-acre flood basin that includes land in four municipalities and unincorporated Miami-Dade County. A potential Adaptation Action Area, the site includes both vulnerable communities that had experienced repetitive losses, traditional Florida waterfront canal communities, and a site for a future commuter rail station. Key recommendations The panelists crafted a long-term development outline for the Adaptation Action Area, including the ecological restoration of the creek and the creation of a resilient and equitable transit-oriented development. A theme throughout was social equity and housing access for all, particularly those in neighborhoods vulnerable to routine flooding. Beyond proposals for the physical planning of the area, the panelists offered advice on project funding, governance, and use of the Adaptation Action Area framework for multijurisdictional coordination. At the conclusion of the Advisory Services panel week, the panelists deliver a presentation to the local community outlining their recommendations. ULI then completes a detailed written report in the two to three months after the conclusion of the panel. Panel sponsors have used these recommendations and reports to advance the policies, programs, and development projects proposed by ULI. ULI s Urban Resilience Program is also committed to follow up with communities that have hosted Advisory Services panels, and has also advanced follow-up projects in partnership with local ULI district councils. Panel Geographies The ULI Urban Resilience program has delivered resilience Advisory Services panels across the United States, in communities of a range of sizes and facing a diversity of challenges. Communities where the Urban Resilience Program has worked include Portland, Maine; Norfolk, Virginia; Seattle, Washington; northern Colorado; St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana; Duluth, Minnesota; and Miami-Dade County, Florida. Each of these panels focused on a specific land use, site development, or policy issue, framing the challenge in the context of the vulnerabilities and opportunities of its community and region. Communities convening a resilience Adviosry Services panel should have a specific policy or development challenge that relates to resilience planning and climate vulnerability, and have the capacity to implement panel recommendations. ULI is available to speak to interested communities about the program, potential areas of focus, and how to make the most of a resilience Advisory Services panel. For more information, contact ULI Urban Resilience Director Katharine Burgess at katharine.burgess@uli.org or visit uli.org/urbanresilience.