Climate Change is Climbing Mount Dora (5)
What Mount Dora needs to do
Part 5 of a 6-part report
Looking around at Central Florida’s inland communities, there is little evidence that serious action is being taken anywhere to plan for and mitigate the effects of climate change.
The East Central Florida Regional Planning Council — an area-wide association of local governments serving the seven counties of Brevard, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Sumter and Volusia Counties, whose mission is to avoid further sprawl — published in 2009 the East Central Florida 2060 vision plan, a road map for growth that focuses on urban centers connected by a variety of transportation options, taking pressure of resources and preserving rural lands. The report identified a number of other climate change affects in Central Florida, including the availability of water, natural disasters, agriculture and food security, public health, and infrastructure, damage to ecological systems and to the economy. The ECFRPC’s 2060 led to recommendations for “cool planning,” tools and strategies for mitigating the effects of climate change at the local level. (You can review them in the ECFRPC’s 2014 Cool Planning final report. )
According to Tara McHugh, director of planning for the ECFRPC, most of the efforts by the council so far has spent focusing on communicating the benefits of mixed uses of land and transportation — walking, biking and transit.
Orlando has one of the most progressive sustainability programs in the the state. In July Orlando city council voted to adopt a goal of the city becoming 100% reliant on renewable energy sources like solar and wind power by the year 2050. Orlando is the largest metro area in the state to adopt this goal. According to Chris Castro, director of sustainability for Orlando, the city plans to power all of its municipal operations on renewable energy by 2030 and reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in 2040, in accordance with the Paris Climate Agreement.
Castro also said that he hoped to secure funding to for a research and vulnerability study to define Orlando’s specific risks and what steps will be necessary for adaptation, mitigation and resilience to climate change. But so far, climate change mitigation is not much discussed.
To get a feel for how Lake County government is responding to the challenge, I emailed Sean Parks, one of two Lake County Commissioners who sits on the ECFRPC. Parks, who represents the Second District of Clermont, has a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science and a Master’s degree in Engineering Management from the Florida Institute of Technology. He is certified as an urban and regional planner by the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) and is a Qualified Environmental Professional (QEP). Commissioner Parks was elected in 2004 to the Lake County Water Authority.
He responded,
As you are probably aware, NOAA buoy data from locations like Key Biscayne and the Florida show that sea levels have significantly risen since the early 1900’s. It’s a real problem that our friends in south Florida have to deal with now. Regardless of the cause, people are moving out of some Florida coastal regions and coming to places like Lake County to mitigate the cost of living in those regions due to the price of flood insurance, taxes, etc.
Generally speaking, I want to be prepared for rapid growth by making sure we have schools and infrastructure in place as the growth is occurring. We can’t keep playing catch-up and laying the burden on the existing residents and businesses.
We also have cooperate regionally to plan for the protection of our water resources. At one time, south Lake County was a model for intergovernmental cooperation for water resource protection. Unfortunately that has fallen by the wayside due to parochial thinking and dis-interest as the economy has taken off.
I checked the city websites for Eustis and Tavares and found little to suggest any ramping-up to deal with climate change. Tavares does have a sustainability page with information on things like water use, recycling, green building and environmental protection, but according to Antonio Fabre in the city’s community development department, no one has delegated responsibility for sustainability issues.
For Mount Dora’s response, I spoke with city manager Robin Hayes. I first asked if there had been any discussions in Mount Dora government so far in dealing with climate change. She replied that since she came on board as city manager in October 2016, there hadn’t been any discussion at the council level and only cursory discussions with staff.
I mentioned the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council’s Central Florida 2060 planning guide which makes recommendations to county and municipal governments for sustainable growth and adaptation to climate change. How much involvement has Mount Dora had with that plan?
“Not much response to that plan to date,” she said, “However, we have hired an economic consultant to examine the build-out of the city’s east side, the Innovation District primarily, but also surrounding housing development — and climate change impacts will be considered there.”
“If the city is expected to grow to a population of 20–25,000 by 2030,” Hayes continued, “whatever plan we develop for those areas will have to take migration from flooding coastal areas into account. We are already seeing some businesses and residents relocating from South Florida — not necessarily due to sea level rise, but Mount Dora is seen as an attractive alternative.
“We are just now finalizing a three-year planning timeline for the Innovation District. On Oct. 7, we’ll be getting the first report from the consultant, with quarterly reports to follow after that. Citizen input is critical and expected in order to fulfill the future requirements of the Innovation District.”
I asked if the city’s Envision Plan would be updated at some point to account for climate change impacts and the need for sustainability.
“That’s been discussed, but right now the feeling is that to recreate the process may be more difficult,” Hayes said. “We have much more coordination with Orange and Lake County agencies and feel our efforts would be more effective working in tandem with them on growth issues.”
It seems odd that all efforts to deal with climate change are framed in the context of growth. All eyes are certainly focused on future commercial and residential development around the Mount Dora exit of the Wekiva Expressway, slated to open in 2021. Mount Dora government is still in a recovery mode from losses to senior management and significant staffing gaps following those departures. Some council members have been too focused on minutiae to address policy, and has lacked enough cohesion to deal with particulars and the big picture at the same time. *
It’s hard to avoid looking at climate change impacts after the statewide toll of Hurricane Irma. Hurricane preparedness in an age of growing monster storms drags in all of the issues which climate change is affecting in other ways, from power to water, drainage to sewer. And with Puerto Rican victims of Hurricane Maria fleeing the island, climate change refugees may start showing up at our doorstop a lot sooner than when Florida’s coasts start flooding in earnest.
* * *
There are two primary functions — capabilities, if you will — that a city like Mount Dora needs to develop to deal proactively with climate change: resilience and sustainability.
A resilience function would assess the city’s vulnerabilities to changing climate realities, identify resilient solutions and then objectify the steps necessary to implement them. While the coastal areas of Florida are contending with the impacts of sea-level rise identifying at-risk infrastructure, Central Florida municipalities need to evaluate the long-term stresses of rising heat, flooding, cycles of aggravated rain and drought and sea level rise migration as they look at their long-range planning and needs, making a dedicated effort to network in the region and throughout the state. This is especially true in a time when there is so little motivation to address climate change at the state and federal level.
Sustainability is a way of doing business that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainability needs to be encouraged at the government level for government operations, residences and businesses. Fossil-fuel dependence can be eliminated through renewable energy sources — solar and wind. Government vehicles can switch to hybrid and electric. Best-practices can be applied for sustainable development, encouraging roundabouts and bike lanes, tree planting and mixed-use development. Residents can become energy efficient by getting energy audits and upgrades. Recycling practices can be more thorough. Fertilizer use and stormwater systems can minimize impact on the water supply, and efficient water usage should be mandatory. Businesses can get fast-track permitting and reduced building permit fees when new commercial or residential buildings meet Florida Green Building Coalition standards.
Mount Dora seems to have a penchant for hiring consultants, so getting one to work out how to integrate resilience and sustainability functions into city operations could be a good place to start. Eventually however, city council will need to mandate and fund the function.
Once that’s achieved, a working group needs to be tasked with the job of implementation. Along with government staff, there should be wide representation from the community — members of the scientific community, community and religious leaders, private business, service organizations, health care organizations and members of under-represented and minority communities.
A flexible timeframe should be established to allow for absorption of new information and feedback, reflection on existing information and re-evaluation of previously held ideas and beliefs, building trust and collaboration between members of the city working group and larger sets of stakeholders, dealing with unexpected challenges and delays; and rethinking how the city should plan for the future.
Introducing ideas about climate change resilience and sustainability into a city which has seen almost no discussion of it is bound to be a slow process. (One significant driver would be if a series of major coastal catastrophes drives refugees much faster into the area.)
Resilience and sustainability has to find a local language. It will take time to translate infrastructure affects to local specifics like water usage policies for the Innovation District, improved stormwater drainage in the Northeast community and wise planning for Pineapple Point.
Education is important at so many levels — from council to staff to committees, from service organizations to schools. Time is needed to discuss, explore and refine the definitions being used for various terms.
Most crucial of all is securing the buy-in of top decision makers — between Mayor, of course, but also staff who endure through multiple elections such as the City Manager and public works director.
And because climate change is a developing story, those responsible for resilience and sustainability would be responsible for keeping an eye on the scientific, political, regional and cultural radar for trends influenced by climate change that would impact the quality of life in the city.
For other local governments in Florida with resilience and sustainability programs, details can be found in Sarasota, Satellite Beach, Orlando, St. Petersburg and Winter Park.
Increasingly, Earth Day is every day government, citizens and businesses alike work together to ensure that present and future generations of Mount Dorans live responsibly and enjoy quality of life.
But that work has to start now.
Up next: A wake-up call on the wind
Note
Let it be mentioned that there are a number of “green” activities underway in the city, from recycling garbage to political will to address its urban tree canopy and “green spaces” with more impact. The 2010 Envision Plan adopted by council did state that the environment was a core community topic and placed high value on preservation, adaptability and sustainability, but according to former mayor Mel DeMarco who spearheaded seeing the plan through, climate change was not then part of any discussion.
Trees are an important part of sustainability efforts as they improve air quality, enhance streetscapes, reduce energy use, noise pollution and stormwater runoff. Mount Dora has long had an active tree program, earning Tree City USA status since 1988. Recently, efforts are underway to update the city’s tree care ordinance with a tree plan that addresses care, maintenance and replacement of the city’s canopy with an eye toward diversity and sustainability.
With an initial grant from the U.S. Forestry Service in 2015, an arborist consultant was hired and a city-wide inventory of the canopy began. That work is nearly done, and city council will hear recommendations from the report in September. The tree plan and ordinance will not be drafted until Spring 2018, but the city is budgeting $150,000 to handle the initial work of removing dead trees, replacing them with new ones and helping marginal trees to recover.
Mount Dora Friends of the Environment has been aggressively replacing oak trees on their own, awarding grants to citizens to cover half the cost of tree purchase and planting. They hope to raise $50,000 on their own to replace 126 trees in public spaces identified through the city’s tree inventory as unsalvagable.
Up Next: A wake-up call on the wind
—David Cohea (djcohea@gmail.com)
David Cohea edits the blog and Facebook page Mount Dora Topics and is director of Live Oak Collective, a Mount Dora, FL-based historic and environmental preservation community.
