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Success: Recap We've come a long way since the Next Great City initiative started. For an overview of the progress we've made check out our 2009 progress report. Success: Incentivized Recycling 2009 has been a big year for recycling in Philadelphia. Single-stream, weekly recycling pick-up went into effect, bringing the recycling diversion rate to a record high in the city; and on street recycling made its debut with BigBelly units popping up throughout Center City. The last piece of the Next Great City recycling recommendation, the implementation of an incentive-based recycling program, was recently announced. Run through RecycleBank, the program will go into affect starting in North Philadelphia in February and spreading throughout the rest of the city over the following six month period. You can learn more, and sign up at www.recyclingpaysphila.gov. Success: Green Building Legislation Passed This piece of legislation furthers the Next Great City recommendation that Philadelphia build energy-efficient, healthy city and school-district facilities. Next Great City testified before Council’s Committee on the Environment in support of the bill because it exemplifies the long-term vision that Philadelphia needs to make us the next great city with a sustainable future. We applaud City Council for taking this important step. Success: Curbside Recycling The city has installed 210 recycling bins throughout Center City along with 500 solar-powered trash compactor bins. Combined, the two are estimated to save the city over $12 million dollars over the next 10 years in reduced emptying requirements and landfilling costs.Success: Creating Accessible Riverfronts Next Great City is very pleased to see that the Civic Vision for the Central Delaware is continuing to move forward. The interim zoning overlay ordinance that we advocated for has been passed by City Council. NGC would like to thank Councilman DiCicco and his staff for all their hard work on this legislation. We believe that the ordinance is an excellent first step towards establishing the publicly accessible riverfront greenways that Philadelphia needs. Success: Retrofitting Extends to School Buses & Other Vehicles As of June 2009, the City has retrofitted all but one of the city’s 78 fire trucks and 119 waste haulers. They will begin retrofitting airport vehicles and non-road vehicles soon. The School District has retrofitted 70 buses and another 169 are underway, using federal grants and settlement funds. Success: Water Commissioner Approves New Stormwater Rate Structure The Next Great City coalition can check another agenda item off our list! Philadelphia Water Commissioner Bernard Brunwasser has approved a new rate structure and regulations for stormwater management that will provide incentives to businesses and institutions to reduce their water runoff.“Managing stormwater is vital to our economy, our environment and the public health,” said Mayor Michael A. Nutter. “And this decision moves us one giant step forward in meeting the federal clean water standards and implementing our Greenworks Philadelphia goal: to make our city the greenest in the nation.” Previous stormwater charges were based on how much water a property used, which bears little relation to its contribution to stormwater runoff. The new charges will be based on the size of and amount of impervious surface. The decision will make it profitable for property owners to address stormwater runoff by planting more trees, installing a green roof or using porous pavement. PWD will also work with Next Great City on a pilot program to study expanding the credit program to residential customers. Congratulations to everyone involved! Success: Weekly Recycling Pick-up Everywhere in the City Mayor Nutter announces that from January 5, 2009 forward single stream recycling will be picked-up weekly throughout the city. Success: Zoning Code Commission Head Announced Ms. Gladstein was previously the head of the Neighborhood Transformation Initiative. She must be approved by a two-third majority of Zoning Code Commission members. If approved, she'll coordinate the efforts of two consultants that have been hired to provide expertise. The Next Great City coalition looks forward to working with Ms. Gladstein on updating the Zoning Code specifically to include an open space designation to protect pocket parks and community gardens and to incentivize transit-oriented development and green buildings. Success: Reducing Asthma Caused by Diesel Soot On October 22, 2008, city officials announced a project to retrofit 88 city-owned fire department vehicles to reduce soot by 20 percent, smog-forming pollution by 40 percent, and carbon monoxide by 50 percent. Funds for the retrofits were provided by EPA Region 3 and managed by the Mid-Atlantic Regional Air Management Association. The City is providing matching funds through a settlement with the Sunoco Corporation. Success: Parks Reform Mayor Nutter increased funding for Fairmount Park by $1.5 million this year and has committed to future increases each year of his administration. These additional dollars will help improve Philadelphia's parks and recreation centers to make sure they are an asset to their communities. In addition, City Council approved legislation to put a referendum to change the city charter on the November ballot. A whopping 73% of voters signaled their support for the parks by voting for this measure that will result in two major reforms. First, the governance of Fairmount Park will change to provide an open and transparent appointment process for qualified commissioners, one of the Next Great City recommendations. Secondly, it will create a unified parks and recreation system that will be managed by and accountable to the Mayor. You can learn more about the upcoming referendum and what it will mean for Philadelphia's parks at www.philaparks.org Success: Stormwater Fee Allocation Starting in November of 2008, the Philadelphia Water Department will begin the process of changing the way stormwater fees are collected from commercial customers. As recommended by Next Great City, instead of making the fee based on how much water a property uses, it will instead be charged by how much impervious surface it has and therefore, how much stormwater it creates. The proposed change will have to go through a rate case proceeding where various stakeholders and interested parties will present testimony in support or opposition of the change. The Next Great City stormwater subcommittee, represented by a PennFuture attorney, will be submitting comments. The process and a final decision should be made by January of 2009. Check back for regular updates. Success: Single Stream Recycling Goes Citywide On July 7, 2008, The City of Philadelphia made the final expansion of the Single Stream recycling program to bring the entire city into the program that allows residents to recycle paper, plastic, metals, glass and cardboard all in one bin. As recommended by Next Great City, single stream makes recycling easier and allows for more material collection- both of which should have a positive impact on increasing recycling rates. The Nutter administration also has announced plans to make recycling collection weekly citywide by January! Stay tuned for details. Success: Clean and Greening of Vacant Lots For fiscal year 2008, a budget line of $3.5 million was allocated for vacant land stabilization and maintenance strategies. This budget line ensures that the internationally-recognized Philly Green program will continue to engage communities in removing these eyesores and potential sources of crime from neighborhoods throughout Philadelphia. Success: Mayor Nutter's Budget and Five Year Plan Support Next Great City On February 14, 2008 Mayor Nutter issued his first budgetary address and five year plan, which outlined his administration's goals- including creating healthy and sustainable communities. The plan embraces many of the Next Great City recommendations, including:
You can read the entire budget and five year plans on the city's website at www.phila.gov. Success: Renewable Energy Use On April 15, 2007, Mayor John F. Street signed a contract with PECO Wind to purchase 8,500 megawatt hours, or about 4% of the city's energy use, from wind power. While it's not the full 5% purchase the Next Great City report recommended, the City plans to purchase more, reaching 5% by 2010. By committing to renewable energy, the City of Philadelphia will reduce its heat-trapping gas emissions by approximately 4,250 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent each year, comparable to planting 1.6 million trees or not driving 20 million miles every year. Nationally ranked as the third worst city in the country to live for people with asthma by the Allergy and Asthma Foundation of America, this action will have a significant impact on improving air quality in the region. Success: Zoning Reform On Thursday, February 8, 2007, Philadelphia City Council moved forward on a key item in the Next Great City agenda by approving a Charter Change to establish a Zoning Code Commission. This measure, introduced by Councilmen Frank DiCicco and James Kenney received unanimous approval from all 17 members of Council. On May 15th, voters overwhelmingly voted for creation of the Zoning Code Commission with a more than 70% approval rate. This Commission will be made up of 31 members, including 10 community leaders. They will be charged with making suggested changes to the Zoning Code, which would then have to be approved by City Council. The Next Great City coalition supports zoning reform. Specifically, we recommend the inclusion of an open space designation, the encouragement of transit-oriented development and incentives for energy efficient buildings to be included in the reforms put forward by the Zoning Commission. Success: Mayoral Candidates "Go Green" The Next Great City Mayoral Forum on February 15th was the unofficial kick off of campaign season, with all five Democratic candidates appearing at a forum together for the first time. The candidates also appeared at other forums on Next Great City issues, such as the Green City Strategy Forum, Mayoral Forum on Energy and Transportation and the Forum on Design for Community and Quality of Life. You can still watch the video of the Next Great City Forum to see how the candidates responded to the 10-point agenda. All five Democratic candidates also released statements of support for the Next Great City agenda and all issued policy papers on sustainability and the environment. As the Inquirer reported, it was the greenest election run in Philadelphia history, pushing the candidates to address issues of air pollution and energy efficiency, transit, blight, and recycling throughout the campaign. |
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