Include requirements in comprehensive and/or other plans for intergovernmental coordination addressing regional land use and watershed / wellhead impacts, infrastructure, transportation, economic development and city/regional services.
Search best practice actions by a related area
Land Use
Build public support and legal validity to long-term infrastructural and regulatory strategy.
Include ecological provisions in the comprehensive plan that explicitly aim to minimize open space fragmentation and/or establish a growth area with expansion criteria.
Adopt development ordinances or processes that protect natural systems and valued community assets.
Conduct a Natural Resource Inventory or Assessment (NRI or NRA); incorporate protection of priority natural systems or resources such as groundwater through the subdivision or development process.
For cities outside or on the fringe of metropolitan areas, conduct a build-out analysis, fiscal impact study, or adopt an urban growth boundary and a consistent capital improvement plan that provides long-term protection of natural resources and natural systems, and agricultural practices outside the boundary.
Preserve environmentally sensitive, community-valued land by placing a conservation easement on city lands, and by encouraging/funding private landowners to place land in conservation easements.
Support and protect wildlife through habitat rehabilitation, preservation and recognition programs.
Transportation
Create a network of green complete streets that improves city quality of life, public health, and adds value to surrounding properties.
Adopt a complete streets policy, or a living streets policy, which addresses landscaping and stormwater.
Modify a street in compliance with the city's complete streets policy.
Environmental Management
Add city tree and plant cover that conserves topsoils and increases community health, wealth, quality of life.
Adopt best practices for urban tree planting/quality; require them in private developments and/or use them in at least one development project.
Budget for and achieve resilient urban canopy/tree planting goals.
Maximize tree planting along your main downtown street or throughout the city.
Adopt a tree preservation or native landscaping ordinance.
Minimize the volume of and pollutants in rainwater runoff by maximizing green infrastructure.
Adopt and use Minnesota's Minimal Impact Design Standards (MIDS).
Adopt by ordinance one or more of the following stormwater infiltration/management strategies to reduce impervious surface:
Create a stormwater utility that uses variable fees to incentivize stormwater infiltration, minimize the volume of and pollutants in runoff, and educate property owners and renters on the importance of managing stormwater runoff.
Adopt and implement guidelines or design standards/incentives for at least one of the following stormwater infiltration/reuse practices:
Improve smart-salting by reducing chloride use in winter maintenance and dust suppressants to prevent permanent surfacewater and groundwater pollution.
Increase active lifestyles and property values by enhancing the city's green infrastructure.
Plan and budget for a network of parks, green spaces, water features and trails for areas where new development is planned.
Adopt low-impact design standards in parks and trails that infiltrate or retain all 2 inch, 24-hour stormwater events on site.
Create park/city land management standards/practices that maximize at least one of the following:
Certify at least one golf course in the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program.
Improve local water bodies to sustain their long-term ecological function and community benefits.
Consistently monitor surface water quality/clarity and report findings to community members.
Conduct or support multi-party community conversations, assessments, plans and actions around improving local water quality and quantity.
Adopt and publicly report on measurable surface water improvement targets for lake, river, wetland and ditches.
Adopt a shoreland ordinance for all river and lake shoreland areas.
Adopt goals to revegetate shoreland and create a local program or outreach effort to help property owners with revegetation.
Implement an existing TMDL implementation plan.
Create/assist a Lake Improvement District.
Assess and improve city drinking water and wastewater systems and related facilities.
Establish an on-going budget and program for decreasing inflow and infiltration into sewer lines and losses in drinking water systems.
Optimize energy and chemical use at drinking water/wastewater facilities and decrease chloride in wastewater discharges.
Implement an environmentally sound management program for decentralized wastewater treatment systems.
Report to landowners suspected noncompliant or failing septic systems as part of an educational, informational and financial assistance and outreach program designed to trigger voluntary landowner action to improve septic systems.
Use a community process to address failing septic systems.
Clarify/establish one or more responsible management entities (RMEs) for the proper design, siting, installation, operation, monitoring and maintenance of septic systems.
Adopt a subsurface sewage treatment system ordinance based on the Association of Minnesota Counties' model ordinance.
Create a program to finance septic system upgrades.
Work with homeowners and businesses in environmentally sensitive areas and areas where standard septic systems are not the least-cost option to promote innovative waste water systems, including central sewer extensions.
Arrange for assistance to commercial, retail and industrial businesses with water use reduction, pollution prevention and pretreatment prior to discharge to septics.
Resilient Economic and Community Development
Adopt outcome measures for GreenStep and other city sustainability efforts, and engage community members in ongoing education, dialogue, and campaigns.
Inclusive and Coordinated Decision-Making: Use a city commission or committee to lead, coordinate, report to and engage community members on the identification and equitable implementation of sustainability best practices.
Communicating Progress on Goals: Organize goals/outcome measures from all city plans (social, environmental, economic) and report to community members data that show progress toward meeting these goals.
Public Education for Action: Conduct or support a broad sustainability education and action campaign, building on existing community relationships, networks & events involving:
Expand a greener, more resilient business sector.
Lower the environmental and health risk footprint of a brownfield remediation/redevelopment project beyond regulatory requirements; report brightfield projects.
Network/cluster businesses and design neighborhoods and developments to achieve better energy, social, economic and environmental outcomes in service of a more circular and equitable economy.
Use 21st century ecodistrict tools to structure, guide and link multiple green and sustainable projects together in a mixed-use neighborhood/development, or innovation district, aiming to deliver superior social, environmental and economic outcomes.
Plan and prepare for extreme weather, adapt to changing climatic conditions, and foster stronger community connectedness and social and economic vitality.
Encourage private sector action and incentivize investment in preventive approaches that reduce risk and minimize impacts of extreme weather and the changing climate for human health and the built environment.
Protect public buildings and natural/constructed infrastructure to reduce physical damage and sustain their function during extreme weather events.
Protect water supply and wastewater treatment facilities to reduce physical damage and sustain their function during extreme weather events.