March 22, 2001

Meeting Minutes

Jeff Albert, Foit-Albert Associates

James Bates, US Dept. Of Housing & Urban Development

Eric Birner, Office of Strategic Planning

Dana Bobinchek, League of Conservation Voters

Scott Bulera, Turner Construction

Jay Burney, Learning Sustainability Forum

Lorraine Clemente, Buffalo Economic Renaissance Corporation

Vincent Coppola, League of Women Voters

David DiSalvo, Office of Strategic Planning

Drew Eszak, Erie County Environment & Planning

Gordon Fraser, Great Lakes Center

Laura Gang, Buffalo Niagara Partnership

Joe Gardella, UB Environment & Society Institute

Adiel Gavish, Green Gold Intern

Dick Grainger, Conserval Systems

David Hahn-Baker, Inside-Out Political Consultants

Denise Herkey, League of Women Voters

Mike Lodick, SEER Buffalo

Randi Mail, Green Gold Project Coordinator

Mark Mitskovski, Erie County Environment & Planning

Dale Morris, Erie County Planning Department

Bill Nowak, Legislative Staff Manager – Council Staff

Gary Robinson, URS Corp./Solar Water Systems

Chris Sansone, Erie County Environment & Planing

Joe Schmidbauer, Alt Press/Buffalo Institute of Urban Ecology

David Sengbush, Office of Strategic Planning

Jim Smith, Buffalo Environmental Management Commission

Ed Zielinski, www.environment-buffalo.org

Plans for expanding the site’s capability include offering the service to other local governments at a lower cost than commercial applications, adding an aerial photography component, thematic census maps and brownfield data.

David DiSalvo mentioned that the City of Buffalo is working with the County to include online GIS data on about 96,000 parcels on the City’s homepage. Thematic information will be available as well as district distinctions for council, schools and police. Gordon Fraser suggested including additional layers such as Superfund sites and Wellhead Protection Areas.

Denise Herkey and Anne Huberman gave the League’s educational presentation on sprawl. Founded in 1920, the League strives to educate women on various issues, particularly for citizenship rights. LWV is non-partisan, welcomes men and continues to educate the public on selected issues.

Sprawl is defined as uncontrolled, low-density suburban development that spreads rapidly on the fringes of existing communities, consuming agricultural and environmentally sensitive lands. It is recognized by the following characteristics:

• Residential subdivisions built farther from the city center resulting in severe traffic problems
• Strip malls built everywhere
• Neighborhood deterioration, especially downtown
• Increasing distance from the city center, therefore causing longer commuting times

Regionally, sprawl has cost us:

• Excessive land consumption which results in a multitude of economic, environmental and social costs. People have moved to the suburbs bringing growth with them while we have seen an exodus of population – 200,000 people in Erie & Niagara Counties since 1970.

• A rising tax burden. More roads, sewer, water and electric lines, and other costly infrastructure built in the city outskirts demand more maintenance.
• Longer response times for services such as police and fire protection that are farther away.
• A 56% increase in the number of vehicle miles traveled per day from 1982 to 1997. People spend more hours in their cars annually than ever before due to ever-increasing congestion problems.
• Billions to maintain the nation’s road system. Governmental subsidies on gasoline mask true prices and ignore hidden costs such as air pollution, car accidents and our dependency on foreign oil.
• The loss of valuable farmland. From 1969 to 1996, Erie and Niagara Counties lost 27% of farmland.
• Contaminated water from pesticide runoff, as well as wildlife habitat destruction and loss of wetlands.
• Social degradation including the isolation of the elderly due to inadequate transportation and affordable housing. Sprawl is unhealthy since we walk less and drive more, leading to obesity.

Nationally, cities have responded to sprawl in the following ways:

• New zoning laws to protect farmland and forests.
• Portland, Oregon established "Portland Metro" responsible for long-range land use and transportation planning for the entire metropolitan area.
• Maryland has incorporated "smart growth" principles into their planning. Now only designated areas receive funds for development projects.
• In 1971, Minneapolis-St. Paul created a tax-revenue-sharing plan in which all 189 municipalities participate. 40% of the tax increase is funneled into a common pool. Revenue is redistributed to municipalities based on population and market value of property.

In New York, home rule delegates planning and zoning power to each municipality. This makes regional planning difficult. Joint efforts must be made. Citizens must demand political and economic supporters of "smart growth". For more info, call Denise Herkey at 883-2340.

Jay Burney, hired by UB’s Environment & Society Institute as the Event Coordinator, opened up discussion of the upcoming forum by asking what sustainability meant to certain people. Ideas included the three pillars of sustainability – environment, economy and society/culture, thriving vs. surviving, and self-perpetuation. People find themselves increasingly disconnected from nature, friends and family as our time in the urban environment dulls our sensibilities. The forum will initiate an ongoing community discussion of sustainability, encouraging consideration of whether the Greater Buffalo area is a healthy community.

Joseph Gardella, Funding Committee chair hopes to offer free registration while special events will be pay-as-you-go. Currently, the budget for this event stands at $300,000.

Emphasizing that the event is Green Gold’s largest effort to date, planning help is truly needed. Randi Mail announced that an Exposition Committee has been established and all are encouraged to participate. The advisory committee also maintains an open invitation to interested parties. The Exposition Committee will meet on April 9^th at 3:00 in 1417 City Hall.

Dana Bobinchek suggested that Green Gold table at Buffalo State College’s Earth Day event. Adiel Gavish will do so. Dana also announced that the League of Conservation Voters Award Luncheon will be held April 5^th, from at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Cost is $30 for non-profits/students and $45 for others. For more info call Dana Bobinchek @ 856-0457.