Community Priorities

On June 25, 2009, over 40 Austin Environmental groups hosted a community forum called the EcoChange Exchange. There, we solicited input from over 300 attending citizens on what should be the top environmental priorities for the new City Council. Citizens were each given eight dots and told for each policy area to place their dots on the policy they believe to be most urgent. Citizens could also suggest policies that were not already listed. In the below tables, language prepared by the event organizers are shown in black, edits by citizens in red and strikethrough.

We asked for suggestions in the following categories:


Alternative Transportation

Policy Number of Dots
Fund world class bicycling and pedestrian infrastructure, including public showers. 35
Oppose State Highway 45 SW extension over the Barton Springs Recharge Zone. 33
Oppose TxDOT's plans for a 12-lane elevated tollway with frontage roads for US 290 near the Oak Hill "Y". 23
Plan for bicycle and pedestrian accessibility. 10
Support the Austin-San Antonio Inter-municipal Rail District. 7
Develop a plan to preserve agricultural capacity and reduce driving in the vicinity of SH 130. 5
Implement a transportation system that is grade separated and fast. 5
Put Light Rail back on the ballot. 3
Implement a City program to transfer auto cost externalities to alternative transportation. 3
Let people plan land use, not developers. 1
Urge the state to implement greater incentives for alternative transportation. 1
Incentivize alternative transportation cooperatives, such as Austin Carshare or the Yellow Bike Project 1
Implement a congestion pricing plan. 1
Increase incentives for electric vehicles. 1
Improve Festival congestion management. 0


Clean Energy

Policy Number of Dots
Prioritize efficiency and renewables over fossil and nuclear fuel in the City's budget. 54
Break the link between City funding and City owning and burning fossil fuel resources. 20
Aggressively add solar PVs and wind turbines to city rooftops. 18
Lead on innovative clean energy with local green jobs, such as the Pecan Street Project. 15
Divest Austin from coal and re-energize Austin's Climate Protection Plan. 12
Maximize energy efficiency through LED lighting, turning off sky-scraper lights, flat-fee service, citizen education, etc. 12
Develop energy storage to make renewables base load. 9
Have education in schools on renewable energy. 3
Restructure fairness in rates and peak pricing. 2


Environmental Justice

Policy Number of Dots
Relocate the polluting Pure Casting facility and oppose the building of an incinerator at the East Austin animal shelter location at Lavender Loop. 27
Relocate over 400 properties operating as industrial and commercial service-one (CS1) in East Austin. Redevelop these sites with compatible and sustainable residential land uses. 23
Support initiatives to link living-wage green collar jobs to low-income communities. 19
Appoint a diverse task force to develop and recommend a structure, process, and initial boundaries for Single Member Districts. 14
Make City land available for affordable housing development. 11
Work with the federal government to provide direct grants to local transit agencies to improve existing transit systems and make public transportation extremely affordable. 11
Enact a moratorium or freeze on property tax increases based on income and length of family residence. 6
Eliminate racism in our schools and communities. 3
Restrict zoning and high-end condos and real estate developments in low-income communties. 1
Review past use of Federal low-income funds to create more accountability before new stimulus money is allocated. 1


Local and Sustainable Food Economy

Policy Number of Dots
Support organic and sustainable food farms and farmland through tax relief, zoning protection, and affordable water rates and rebates. 50
Incentivize and promote community and private-yard food gardens, and financially support water access and remove other barriers. 29
Initiate policy for a citywide composting operation (rescue food and organic waste from the landfill). 18
Promote local food as local business by developing a permanent public food marketplace and giving local food manufacturing, promotional, and incubator support 18
Create more farmers' and community markets along urban transit routes and in more neighborhoods. 0
Create mobile food markets. 0
Facilitate agricultural land use within the City. 0
Create an educational curriculum for sustainable food education to teach in schools. 0


Participatory Democracy

Policy Number of Dots
Reaffirm policies for meaningful public review, participation and input in decision-making processes. Possibly create a "Citizens' Bill of Rights." 49
Begin community dialogue on looming and existing environmental problems, including drought, global warming, and energy depletion. 44
Engage citizens on hte comprehensive plan and other important issues using an Envision Central Texas-style model. 11
Immediately implement public information access via current city system capabilities. 10
Create a citizen task force on citizen participation and intergovernmental communications systems. 0


Responsible Land Use

Policy Number of Dots
Support appropriate sustainable land use and alternative transportation in core transite areas while upholding and enforcing SOS, waterfront overlay districts, and require a super-majority for PUDs over the aquifer, while supporting neighborhood plans. 54
Oppose the Wildflower Commons PUD and other up-zoning in the Barton Springs Watershed. 21
Incorporate alternative transportation into the Climate Protection Plan and set specific community and City greenhouse gas reduction goals as part of the plan. 17
Appoint a sustainability officer reporting to the City Manager, with cross-department budget authority, and devote 2.5% of the City budget to sustainability. 15
Support a green jobs economy. 8
Utilize Waller Creek from the headwaters to the lake and include affordable housing (ed - handwriting is bad, not sure if I captured this item correctly). 6
Choose density over sprawl in appropriate locations. 3
Create tax abatements for long-term residents. 2
Enact a moratorium on single-use, expensive commercial retail. 2
Add more greenspace and parks and do more maintenance for existing parks. 1
Identify land use before spending on infrastructure. 1
Acquire native lands with multi-ecological benefits. 1
Focus on New Urbanism across the city.


Water Stewardship

Policy Number of Dots
Change land development and building codes to allow and encourage require gray-water reuse, composting toilets, rainwater collection in City buildings,and runoff retention, waterless urinals, green roofs, and reuse of HVAC water. 63
Preserve and acquire natural areas in the Barton Springs watershed and across Austin, including native grasses. 31
Increase water conservation funding to 4% or higher of Austin Water Utility's budget. 23.5
Shelve Water Treatment Plant #4 spending during the city's comprehensive planning process. 11.5
Set a goal for Austin to catch up to San Antonio in reducing per-capita water usage. 7
Stop fluoridation and chloridation of our water supply. 4
Have more aggressive rebate and conservation programs for water conservation 3
Develop a strategic plan for urban green infrastructure, infiltration, and green roofs instead of storm/rain runoff. 3
Do more tree planting in urban areas.
Ban plastic drinking water bottles, and have a contest to design reusable water bottles. 3
Study the effect of climate change on our water supply and aquifer recharge. 2
Make the water rate structure more progressive. 2
Commit city resources to protecting Barton Springs flows during drought. 2
Increase development fees in the Drinking Water Protection Zone. 2
Create rebates for individualized rainwater collection 1
Print water use per person on the water utility bills so that people can see what they are using. 0
Teach water consciousness in schools (e.g. watershed models, etc.) 0
Create an education packet for water conservation resources. 0
Decentralize wastewater processing. 0
Hold a water conservation contest. 0
Make the Austin Water Utility more transparent. 0
Ban lawn watering. 0
Have year round water restrictions. 0
Allow or require pervious pavement in sensitive areas. 0
Hold a moratorium on constructing new offices until they are all full. 0


Zero Waste

Policy Number of Dots
Expand the recycling ordinance to include all residences and, businesses, institutions, festivals, bars, restaurants, and apartments with less than 100 units. 41
Get organics out of our landfills and promote and create incentives for neighborhood, community, backyard, and curbside composting as well as the use of mulch in all new construction. 38
Fund a comprehensive Zero Waste public education campaign, including AISD and other educational institutions. 16
Oppose landfill expansions and waste-to-energy projects. 10
Ban plastic bags and styrofoam. 9
Utilize public input and transparency in the search for the new Solid Waste Services (Zero Waste) Director and the Greenstar contract. 5
Recruit businesses that use recycled materials, compost, etc. as inputs. 4
Promote and retrofit eco-industrial parks, recycling, reuse, resale, and consignment facilities. 2
Have water refill stations to avoid plastic bottles and bring your own containers for food. 2
Increase enforcement and accountability of recycling. 1
Incentivize refrigerator and toilet recycling. 1
Put more emphasis on reducing waste. 1
Pass the Green Events ordinance. 1
Require Construction and demolition recycling. 0