Item 12 - Establishing Fee-In-Lieu Rates Article 13

Comments to city council I am writing as a member of the Clean Energy Lakewood group in strong support of adoption of the proposed amendments to the Article 13 Sustainable Development Standards (Ordinance 0-2022-7) along with Resolution #2022-49 establishing fees in lieu for the enhanced Development Menu. I applaud the Sustainability Division staff for their hard work and creativity in developing this innovative and ground breaking approach to sustainable development. I further thank council for its diligent work in fine tuning the proposal. It is also important to ackknowledge the work of the Planning Commission and LAC. The proposed amendments are critical to Lakewood’s effort to implement the 2015 Sustainability Plan. In my eight years on council I worked first to help establish Lakewood’s Sustainability Division and then for council approval of the Sustainability Plan. As with any plan, however, the key is implementation once adopted. As Sustainability Manager Jonathan Wachtel stated in his presentation, adoption of these sustainable development standards supports at least 19 goals and strategies of the Lakewood Comprehensive Plan and over 30 from the Lakewood Sustainability Plan. Moreover, adoption of the Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Program with a performance standard will significantly reduce Lakewood’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and help the city achieve its community-wide emissions reduction targets. Through careful calculation the Sustainability Division determined adoption of these standards will avoid 200 metric tons of GHG emissions (a 10% reduction) with the potential for $20 million in avoided costs. This will be a major step forward in meeting our GHG emissions reduction targets. Finally, adoption of these standards reflects Lakewood’s community goals and values of sustainability. Community surveys consistently show support for sustainability by Lakewood residents. In addition, hundreds of Lakewood citizens showed their support for sustainability by participating in or supporting development of the Lakewood Sustainability Plan and Comprehensive Plan. Adoption of the Sustainable Development Standards is a major step towards fulfilling the vision and goals of these documents and the commitments made to the community. In conclusion, I urge you to vote in favor of adoption of the Amended Article 13 Sustainable Development Standards and fees in lieu. I applaud and thank staff and council for their great work on these innovative standards. Thank you, Tom Quinn Former Ward 5 City Councillor