Lodi Improvement Committee

CARNEGIE FORUM REGULAR AGENDA REGULAR SESSION 305 WEST PINE STREET LODI TUESDAY, LODI, CALIFORNIA IMPROVEMENT SEPTEMBER 10, 2019 COMMITTEE @ 6:00 PM For information regarding this Agenda please contact: PATRICE CLEMONS TELEPHONE: (209) 333-6800 x3404 NOTE: All staff report or other written documentation relating to each item of business referred to on the agenda are on file in the Office of Community Development Department, located at 221 W. Pine Street, Lodi, and are available for public inspection. If requested, the agenda shall be made available in appropriate alternative formats to persons with a disability, as required by Section 202 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 12132), and the federal rules and regulations adopted in implementation thereof. To make a request for disability -related modification or accommodation contact the City Clerk's office as soon as possible and at least 24 hours prior to the meeting date. 6:00 p.m. Roll Call Minutes March 12, 2019 – Regular Meeting - pending April 9, 2019 – Special Meeting (Cancelled) – pending May 14, 2019 – Regular Meeting - pending June 11, 2019 – Regular Meeting – pending July 9, 2019 – Regular Meeting – pending August 13, 2019 – Regular Meeting - pending Comments by the Public on Non-Agenda Items (5 minute limit per speaker) Presentation Annual Goals A. Update on LIC 2018-19 Goals from Members and Staff a. Review prior year goals and accomplishments b. Discuss new 2019-20 Goals c. Review and discuss Committee purpose d. Review presentation for annual City Council report Regular Business A. Determine topics for upcoming meetings a. October – CDBG Training B. Member vacancy update Comments from Board members and Staff on Non-Agenda Items (5 minute limit per speaker) Announcements Adjournment Pursuant to Section 54954.2(a) of the Government Code of the State of California, this agenda was posted at least 72 hours in advance of the regularly scheduled meeting (or 24 hours in advance of a special meeting) at a public place freely accessible to the public 24 hours a day. Patrice Clemons CDBG Program Specialist J:\Community Development\Neighborhood Services Division\Lodi Improvement Committee\Agendas\2019\09.10.19 Regular Meeting Agenda.doc  March 12, 2019 – Regular, May 14, 2019 – Regular, June 11, 2019, July 9, 2019 & August 13, 2019 The above Lodi Improvement Committee Meeting minutes were not available at the time of packet preparation. They will be made available prior to the start of the September 10, 2019 meeting if they have been completed.  MEMORANDUM, City of Lodi, Community Development Department To: Lodi Improvement Committee From: Patrice Clemons, CDBG Program Specialist/City Staff Liaison Date: August 13, 2019 Subject: Staff Report on the 2019-20 Annual Vision-Making and Goal-Setting Meeting Purpose: Lodi Improvement Committee (Committee) conducts activities according to its annual program year goals. Background: The Lodi Improvement Committee is organized and created for the purposes of maintaining and improving the quality of life and appearance of Lodi by the coordinated efforts of a broad spectrum of the community. To this end, the Committee held its annual goal setting meeting. At this meeting, the Committee discussed its purpose, review its prior year accomplishments, set new goals, and determine individual committee roles for the 2019-20 program year. Prior Year Goals and Accomplishments 2018-19 The Lodi Improvement Committee has been very busy. During the 2018/19 fiscal year the committee set out to achieve seven goals and 14 objectives. These goals and objectives were created by committed members to implement the Lodi Improvement Committee’s (LIC) general purpose. The 2018/19 Committee goals and objectives are as follows: 1. Empower and support residents to become leaders for transforming their community, through the following methods: a. Approach Title One parents clubs to possibly put on an event for their students/children and empower them by inviting them to go through the Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) program, with support of LIC. b. LIC members provide support to the ABCD program. c. Completed ABCD Cycle 3 projects will be considered for an LIC award. 2. Support the City’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, which aims to create viable urban communities by providing decent housing, a suitable living environment, and expanding economic opportunities. a. Help conduct outreach of the Consolidated Plan through co-facilitation of focus groups, survey creation/disbursement, social media/press releases, and recruit organization to help support outreach. b. Recommend to the City Council which projects to be funded under the CDBG program, including reviewing scoring rubric, assisting applicants in filling out applications and collecting information, and scoring and selecting applications. 3. Help the City and Committee on Homelessness to provide more resources and assistance for homeless. a. Support Committee on Homelessness to obtain funding (e.g. HEAP grant application), attend monthly meetings (1st Thursday), and reporting back to the LIC. b. Volunteer to help with the Point-In-Time Count. Page 1 of 3  c. Research funding and resources for public restroom facilities for homeless and report that information to the Committee on Homelessness and other City or non-city entities, as needed. 4. Encourage beautification of Lodi a. Recognize properties and individuals bi-annually that have improved the community through community service, projects, properties, buildings. Establish criteria. b. Increase awareness of awards through competition or voting on properties at a public event; and promoting nominations by other members of the public. 5. Improve active transportation in the City, such as pedestrian and bicycle travel. a. Assist City Staff in applying for two active transportation grants by gathering information needed to put in the grant and researching a second grant; advocate for approval of grants by City. 6. Promote LIC’s goals in the City. a. Attend City Council meetings to promote committee and its goals; and provide bi-annual report on the progress on our goals. b. Attend a community event where information is provided about the LIC and its goals. 7. Improve health care for lower-income a. Find resources for health care services to be provided to individuals at WorkNet and CHD. Draft 2019-20 Goals and Revised Committee Purpose The Lodi Improvement Committee reflected on its purpose as described in its By-Laws and came up with draft goals for the next year. 1. Support leadership among Heritage residents through ABCD program; LIC members providing support to the ABCD program. 2. Consider the completed ABCD Cycle 3 projects for an LIC award 3. Conduct community outreach on priority needs and goals for the annual CDBG application cycle 4. Recommend to the City Council which projects to be funded under the CDBG program, including reviewing scoring rubric, assisting applicants in filling out applications and collecting information, and scoring and selecting applications. 5. Research visionary community development projects, including: a. Support a Greenline project in Lodi b. Support additional shade tree design standards (Attachment 1) c. Support public garden (Attachment 2) d. Support parking space reductions (Attachment 3) 6. Promote LIC goals to the public through attendance at fairs/community events, or meeting with community leaders 7. Provide report to City Council twice a year on LIC activities 8. Research alternative LIC meeting locations and holding LIC meeting in an alternative location at least once 9. Create Homeless Strategy for Lodi in collaboration with Lodi Committee on Homelessness 10. Research land trust options for creating affordable housing, such as for homeless 11. Look into homebuyer programs and funding 12. Award and Recognize properties and communities service leaders for their dedication to improving Lodi Upon further reflection, the Committee also found that the existing purpose could be refined to better reflect current community needs and member skills. Those draft revisions are provided in Attachment 4. The Committee will consider these revisions at this September meeting and then bring forward draft revisions for review and feedback by staff, City Council, the public, and stakeholders. Final revisions will then be provided to City Council for final review and approval. Fiscal Impact: No fiscal impacts. Page 2 of 3 Attachments: 1) Shade tree design standards 2) Public garden 3) Parking space reductions 4) Draft revisions to committee purpose Page 3 of 3  Rolling Back Lodi’s Regulated Parking Minimums Doug Bojack Chair, Lodi Improvement Committee Fall 2019 Waste of Space. Waste of Money. It's time to put an end to parking minimum laws and allow Lodi to become a productive place again. Free Parking isn’t free. Parking may be free to the motorist, but only because shoppers, business owners, and taxpayers are paying for it. Three Problems with Parking Minimums They rob the city of financial productivity and prosperity Left: Patterns of land use. Right: Tax value per acre. “Ultimately parking is the single most important design feature that dilutes the tax productivity of development. Municipalities for whom property taxes are lifeblood should treat parking for what it is: dead weight.” – Josh McCarty, Chief Analytics Researcher at public finance consultancy Urban3 Source: Urban3 and StrongTowns.org They hurt small business owners, homeowners, developers, and renters  Small business owners are forced to spend their precious, hard-earned dollars paying for designated parking spaces for their customers instead of spending that money on supplies, space to sell products, etc. Or they're excluded outright from locating in certain areas because of a lack of parking. Source: StrongTowns.org They hurt small business owners, homeowners, developers, and renters  Small business owners are forced to spend their precious, hard-earned dollars paying for designated parking spaces for their customers instead of spending that money on supplies, space to sell products, etc. Or they're excluded outright from locating in certain areas because of a lack of parking.  Homeowners are prevented from taking on basic projects like adding a small rental unit in a basement or backyard because parking minimums would mandate the provision of a parking space for the tenant of that unit (and the typical single- family lot doesn't have room to add that). Source: StrongTowns.org They hurt small business owners, homeowners, developers, and renters  Small business owners are forced to spend their precious, hard-earned dollars paying for designated parking spaces for their customers instead of spending that money on supplies, space to sell products, etc. Or they're excluded outright from locating in certain areas because of a lack of parking.  Homeowners are prevented from taking on basic projects like adding a small rental unit in a basement or backyard because parking minimums would mandate the provision of a parking space for the tenant of that unit (and the typical single- family lot doesn't have room to add that).  Developers are unable to execute projects because (similar to homeowners) a lack of space on a given lot may prevent them from constructing the required parking to accompany it, or (similar to business owners) they are forced to spend a large portion of their development budget on storage for cars instead of units for paying tenants. Source: StrongTowns.org They hurt small business owners, homeowners, developers, and renters  Small business owners are forced to spend their precious, hard-earned dollars paying for designated parking spaces for their customers instead of spending that money on supplies, space to sell products, etc. Or they're excluded outright from locating in certain areas because of a lack of parking.  Homeowners are prevented from taking on basic projects like adding a small rental unit in a basement or backyard because parking minimums would mandate the provision of a parking space for the tenant of that unit (and the typical single- family lot doesn't have room to add that).  Developers are unable to execute projects because (similar to homeowners) a lack of space on a given lot may prevent them from constructing the required parking to accompany it, or (similar to business owners) they are forced to spend a large portion of their development budget on storage for cars instead of units for paying tenants.  Renters end up losing many housing opportunities because spaces that could be filled with homes are, instead, filled with parking. Source: StrongTowns.org They fill Lodi with empty, useless, costly space Not only is this a waste of space that could be put to a thousand more productive uses, parking lots also create greater distance between the homes and businesses in our community, meaning it takes longer to get around and forcing Lodi to spend more on roads, traffic lights, and other transportation infrastructure. Source: StrongTowns.org Lodi’s existing parking minimums: LMC 17.32  Highly Regulated  Ex: Regulation golf courses are required to have 5 spaces per hole; putting courses only need 4 spaces per hole; miniature golf requires 3 spaces per hole  High Required Numbers of Spaces  A duplex requires 4 covered parking spaces—driveway space and on-street parking space do not count  One 200 square foot parking spot (plus maneuvering room) is required for each 500 square feet of retail space  Limited Adjustments Available to Parking Requirements  If the same parking space can be used for complimentary purposes, such as a bank parking lot by day and a movie theater parking lot by night, the property owner must record a restrictive covenant  Parking requirement reductions are a discretionary approval where applicants need to affirmatively prove their need for fewer spaces A Better Approach  Off-street parking should be a business decision. The parking decision is in the hands of people who will benefit, or who will suffer from that decision.  There are additional benefits in saving city planning staff time and resources spent on calculating, determining, and verifying compliance.  The City can still require developers to determine the number of parking spaces sufficient for the proposed use and provide justification acceptable to the Community Development Director and/or the Planning Commission to support the determination. Source: Streetsblog LA Trader Joe’s has a reputation for somewhat difficult parking, but this reduces their overhead, contributing to lower prices. Businesses like Trader Joe’s will locate in areas with appropriate parking for their business model, and shoppers may adjust the ways and the times they patronize businesses, based on parking and other factors. National Success Stories Source: StrongTowns.org  Lancaster, CA The City Council introduced an ordinance to eliminate minimum parking requirements in the commercial zones of the city in 2016. The staff report cited eliminating parking requirements as one step “to reverse low-density, sprawling development patterns, and the resulting fiscal liabilities” and that “by removing this regulatory barrier, developers would have the ability to maximize land use potential and value generation, with resulting long-term benefits to the City.” Yukon, OK The city passed a form-based code in March 2015 that established a parking maximum in place of the existing minimum. Buildings owners are permitted to increase their allotted parking count through shared, on- street, or bicycle parking. Adoption of the code is mandatory in a portion of the city and property owners can opt-in elsewhere. Houston, TX There are no parking requirements in downtown Houston, about a 2.5 square mile area. This area has some of the most vibrant new businesses as the barrier to entry is so much lower. Branson, MO Branson City Council adopted a parking maximum code for the entire city.  #BlackFridayParking #BlackFridayParking shows just how much space is wasted on huge parking lots that will never be filled to capacity. Even on the biggest shopping day of the year, plenty of parking lots are left without reaching critical mass. Source: StrongTowns.org Recommended Action The Planning Commission should participate in #BlackFridayParking around Lodi to witness the extent of the city’s excess parking on the busiest shopping day of the year. The Planning Commission should propose updated language to LMC 17.32 that reduces or eliminates harmful parking minimums in Lodi. Thank you and Questions Resources  https://www.strongtowns.org/parking  https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2018/7/2/3-major-problems-with-parking- minimums  https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2016/11/16/5-resources-for-ending- parking-minimums  https://www.strongtowns.org/blackfridayparking-survey/  https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2012/03/parking-minimums-create-too- many-parking-spots/1561/  https://www.planning.org/planning/2018/oct/peopleoverparking/  https://www.accessmagazine.org/fall-2013/parking-reform-made-easy/  https://la.streetsblog.org/2016/12/14/city-of-lancaster-eliminates-parking- minimums-for-commercial-zones/ Public Garden Concept Proposal Prepared by Doug Bojack Chair, Lodi Improvement Committee Fall 2019 Acknowledgements The author would like to thank Salwa Bojack, the Lodi Improvement Committee members, Patrice Clemons, Kari Chadwick, Cathi DeGroot, Astrida Trupovnieks, Katherine Gonzales, and Jessica Bilecki for their comments and support in developing this concept. About the Author Doug is the attorney for the California Strategic Growth Council, a cabinet-level State body charged with coordinating and working collaboratively with public agencies, communities, and stakeholders to achieve sustainability, equity, economic prosperity, and quality of life for all Californians. He is a Class of 2017 graduate of Leadership Lodi. About the Committee The Lodi Improvement Committee is a seven-member community development advisory board to the City of Lodi. 2|P a g e Contents Executive Summary....................................................................................................................................... 4 Opportunity and Rationale ........................................................................................................................... 4 Project Concept, Location, and Objectives ................................................................................................... 6 Concept ..................................................................................................................................................... 6 Proposed Location: The Main Street Garden ........................................................................................... 6 Phased Approach ...................................................................................................................................... 7 Phase 1 .................................................................................................................................................. 7 Phase 2 .................................................................................................................................................. 8 Phase 3 .................................................................................................................................................. 8 Objectives ................................................................................................................................................. 9 Community Visioning Process ....................................................................................................................... 9 Desired Benefits .......................................................................................................................................... 10 Sustainable Food Access ......................................................................................................................... 10 Workforce and Economic Development ................................................................................................. 10 Outdoor Education.................................................................................................................................. 12 Shade Tree Program................................................................................................................................ 13 Steering Committee Structure .................................................................................................................... 14 Funding ....................................................................................................................................................... 16 Realizing the Vision: Multiple Streams and Sources of Funding ............................................................. 16 Climate Change Adaptation and Resiliency Programs – State Funding .............................................. 16 Park Development Bonds – State Funding.......................................................................................... 17 Outdoor Education – Corporate and Foundation Giving .................................................................... 17 Workforce Development – Federal Funding....................................................................................... 18 Brownfield Cleanup – Federal Funding ............................................................................................... 18 Sustaining the Vision: Aligning Existing Expenditures ............................................................................ 19 Recommended Action................................................................................................................................. 19 Resources .................................................................................................................................................... 20 3|P a g e Executive Summary The City Council formed the Lodi Improvement Committee to improve the quality of life in Lodi more than 20 years ago. The Committee has taken on greater community development responsibilities over the years, including recently scoring applications from community groups for federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) awards and acting as a public venue for a Caltrans Sustainable Communities planning grant for the Greenline trail between downtown and Lodi Lake. Among its 2019- 2020 priorities, the Committee undertook developing a Big Hairy Audacious Goal for the City to pursue in the community development sphere using CDBG and other available funds. This concept proposal is part of the realization of that goal and should be read as a companion piece to the Committee’s work around the Greenline trail and push for a multi-service center at 100 Main Street. This paper proposes the City develop the first public community garden in Lodi to address critical public health, education, economic and workforce development, and environmental challenges. The proposal advocates for the City to take a purposeful role in the project to lead a steering committee made up of Lodi’s educational, business, public health, and non-profit communities. It proposes a possible location for a large, city-scale garden on the City-owned lot at 22 E. Locust Street, a parcel purchased with CDBG funding years ago for a project that failed to materialize. This location would serve the city’s most disadvantaged populations, be central to transit access, integrate with the planned World of Wonders Science Plaza, and be capable of a phased expansion should the project succeed. Opportunity and Rationale More than 23,000 Lodi residents, including 40% of Lodi’s children, live in USDA-classified food deserts. Yet the City of Lodi has no public community gardens. These are just two sobering facts about the state of public health and community development investment in Lodi. According to the Healthy Lodi Initiative, “the adult obesity rate in San Joaquin County is more than 40% higher than California as a whole. Tied to that is the fact that our residents are also ahead of the rest of the state in physical inactivity — 22 percent of Lodi is inactive, versus 18 percent of the state’s residents. San Joaquin County is the third highest county in the state for diabetes, and people with diabetes have a two- to four-times greater risk for heart attack and stroke.” But these challenges are not evenly Depending on which census tract you live in Lodi, distributed. The California Healthy Places your life expectancy varies by more than 20 Index, an online mapping tool developed by the years. Public Health Alliance of Southern California, identifies, in sharp contrast, the differences in health burdens across the city. The result of all this—depending on which census tract you live in Lodi, your life expectancy varies by more than 20 years. The City has an opportunity each year to address these challenges through the Community Development Block Grant Program. The program includes a required citizen participation and consultation process, of which the Lodi Improvement Committee is a part. Through that process, the Committee has identified a lack of strategic direction in how the City has been spending CDGB funds for years—the City of Lodi spends tens of thousands of dollars a year on graffiti abatement and hundreds of thousands a year on parking lot accessibility improvements from a source of funding intended to support the most marginalized residents 4|P a g e of the city. This paper proposes a more focused use of this critical source of community development funding that is in keeping with the City’s five-year Consolidated Plan for CDBG funds and also identifies other sources of funding to create and sustain a public community garden in Lodi. Left: Census tracts in Lodi that the USDA has classified as food deserts due to low income and low access to fresh, healthful food. Right: blue indicates the lowest percentile of healthy conditions in the state on the California Healthy Places Index. Gardens are able to help address some of these health issues, especially when approached as a Gardens can be used to grow street trees for way to holistically treat community property owners; the trees increase public safety, development deficiencies in the city. For property values, and the useful life of city example, public community gardens, in infrastructure, while lowering summer addition to being a food source, can promote temperatures and toxins in the air and water. physical activity—activity from tending to a plot or just from walking to and through the space. A community garden with trees would provide welcoming shade, and public gardens can act as a nursery source of shade trees for the community. These trees in turn provide numerous public benefits from that small investment—according to the U.S. Forest Service, a single street tree returns over $90,000 of direct benefits (not including aesthetic, social, and natural) in its lifetime. These benefits range from increasing vehicle and pedestrian safety, improving property values, lessening drainage infrastructure needs, absorbing tailpipe pollution, lowering temperatures city-wide, extending the life of pavement, and even reducing blood pressure. Gardens can also include natural play areas for children, which educators have noted for their importance on children’s physical, social, and emotional well-being for decades. Nature play includes rich and versatile, open-ended activities with an emphasis on natural materials that engage all of the senses. In a recent survey of children’s garden managers published in Public Gardens, free natural material libraries, themed workshops, and informal education were among the highest-rated methods of delivering 5|P a g e opportunities for free play—and those methods are among the lowest cost for garden design. Natural free play can be as simple as a DIY-friendly landscape design or can involve simple tools like children’s shovels and magnifying glasses. The Lodi Improvement Committee explored the need and support for community gardens in Spring 2016. Public comments were overwhelmingly positive. As one woman wrote online: “I love the idea. I’m a farmer’s daughter and love fresh local veggies. Let me know how I can help.” Project Concept, Location, and Objectives Concept This paper proposes a garden that produces public education, economic growth, and workforce training along with a wide variety of fresh, flavorful, and healthy fruits and vegetables, developed through partnerships with the City’s educational, business, public health, and non-profit communities. Proposed Location: The Main Street Garden This proposal considered a number of options and criteria in searching for a location for this concept. The concept is proposed for municipal property in order to establish the project on a secure, stable footing. Similarly, the project is proposed on a site of nearly an acre with space for possible expansion to roughly three acres to benefit from economies of scale in terms of time and resources invested in developing the project. The proposed location is also located near downtown Lodi and the Heritage District to provide the greatest impact to food desert communities while also benefiting from public and active transportation connections and the cluster of related organizations and activities. Finally, the proposed location is intended to revitalize and draw residents and visitors alike across the train tracks from School Street, activating acres of prime, vacant land at the heart of the City of Lodi. The proposed location is 22 East Locust Street, a City-owned lot on Main Street between Locust and Elm Streets. 6|P a g e Phased Approach The proposed location benefits from being able to develop in a phased approach in two ways. First, development can be phased for both the extent and intensity of services available at the site—such as moving from one-off events to regular programming and expanding the scope of that programming. Second, the site may allow for possible physical expansion of the project after building credibility and capacity to negotiate a lease of the adjacent Union Pacific property and to renovate the historic City Hall building into a complementary structure. Phase 1 The City of Lodi purchased the roughly .75-acre parcel at 22 E. Locust Street in 2012 in anticipation of constructing an indoor recreation center. The City demolished the existing structure there, but since then the City could not find the funding to construct the recreation center. However, the parcel remains well- positioned to serve a community function in downtown Lodi—the site is diagonal to the planned WOW Science Plaza and 330-space parking garage and is one block from the City’s Transit Station—and its use is tied to CDBG purposes. Above: This City-owned lot was purchased with CDBG dollars and has been intended for community development purposes for years and sits a third of a mile from the proposed Lodi Greenline rail-trail. 7|P a g e  Phase 2 From the initial seed, this project could expand outward to encompass a renovation of the historic City Hall. The building initially served Lodi as the seat of government, jail, and firehouse all rolled into one, but now is used only for storage. The City could retain the historic exterior while breathing new life into this gem by renovating the roughly 2,000 square foot footprint into a single-story food- or garden-related retail space or as an office or operations area for an agricultural or commercial kitchen business incubator. After developing a sustainable model for the garden, the City may also consider approaching Union Pacific to lease the underused parcel immediately South of the proposed site. Phase 3 8|P a g e At this final phase of physical expansion, the garden would run along three, currently blighted blocks of Main Street. Anchoring the far end could be a former packing shed repurposed into a function that would serve the expanding space—perhaps a shaded outdoor classroom, garden operations center, or year- round farmer’s market as the existing mural on the adjoining warehouse suggests. To accomplish this redevelopment, the City would work with the current user to transition the existing use of the space— storage of light industrial and agricultural machinery—to a more appropriate location away from the downtown core. Objectives A central tenant of this concept, discussed below, is that the final design of the project should include meaningful community participation in determining its goals and methods of achieving them. This paper proposes several possible themes, however:  The conservation and appreciation of natural resources, including the establishment of a public shade tree nursery to cool, protect, and improve city neighborhoods;  The creation of a sustainably-designed community orchard and garden that is a place of discovery for all visitors through active and passive programs of interpretation and education;  The development and maintenance of beautiful spaces for gathering and garden observation and enjoyment for visitors of all ages through native and site adapted plantings;  The furtherance of education and workforce training through adult and children’s symposia, workshops, classes, and other opportunities to explore horticulture, sustainable agriculture, and nature. Community Visioning Process Community visioning is the process of developing consensus about what future the community wants, and then deciding what is necessary to achieve it. This process typically involves a wide cross-section of the community and stakeholders and takes the form of meetings held across venues, times of day, accessible to those with children and language barriers that result in a community vision statement, stakeholder development, and a steering committee or board of directors. Case Study: Fresno Comes Together Fresno Metro Ministry is partnering with the Fresno Housing Authority to develop a community garden and urban green space in Southwest Fresno. The 7-acre site incorporates organic and permaculture techniques, including non-mechanical, no-till, no-spray methods that promote carbon sequestration and water conservation. The project includes native habitat, insectaries, fruit trees, a greenhouse and walking path, composting, and a farm stand. Garden activities are integrated with nutrition/cooking skills classes and job training/entrepreneurship opportunities. The project has established a Garden Leadership Committee to manage the garden’s operations and maintenance of the garden, and Fresno Metro Ministry manages the operations and maintenance of the farm plots and green space. A Youth Leadership Institute leads multi-cultural, multi-generational, multi-lingual outreach to residents and community members, to engage the community in the site’s programming. 9|P a g e Desired Benefits Sustainable Food Access This paper proposes the public garden take the form of a community food forest. A community food forest is a place where people come together to collaboratively grow food using an ecologically designed system based on structural and functional patterns found in forest ecosystems. Food forests typically share three traits: they are open to the public for harvesting; contain multiple vegetation layers, from canopy trees to small trees and shrubs and groundcover; and are built around community participation, where community members are involved in planning, establishing, maintaining, or harvesting at the site. This model also usually applies a permaculture or agroecology approach that builds healthy soil, a key consideration at the proposed site. Healthy soil produces healthful food. A public garden would help replace processed and “Amid the many concerns our community faces, packaged food that is high in sugar, fat, and the most troubling is 1 out of 2 Lodians having empty calories by growing fresh, flavorful, and diabetes or prediabetes by 2020.” nutritious food. A public garden would also Kevin Attride, Adventist Health Lodi Memorial assist those experiencing poverty by offsetting the private cost of buying food and the shared cost of public assistance benefits, such as CalFresh and/or SNAP benefits. Workforce and Economic Development City leadership hopes a post-secondary educational institution will put down roots in Lodi, but there are intermediate steps that the City and institutions can take now to provide education relevant to existing businesses in Lodi. A public garden offers the opportunity to create a venue to host workforce training programs around horticulture, arboriculture, and agroecology, such as Delta College’s certificate programs in plant science and nursery management. Furthermore, hosting multi-day workshops could attract students and instructors to stay in local hotels and generate sales tax revenue downtown. If the City committed to a strong public garden vision, it would further develop Lodi as a horticultural and agritourism destination when paired with the Lodi Lake and Nature Area and the possibility of the Greenline trail connecting these destinations to “U-Pick” farms and wineries in the county. Case Study: Biochar Production in Northern California The Sonoma Ecology Center is working with local vineyards to use waste wood to produce biochar, an extremely water-efficient form of fertilizer. A biochar demonstration and training site in Lodi could create a complementary industry around sustainable agtech. Lodi could focus on supporting local entrepreneurs in developing a home-grown industry or on attracting an existing producer, such as Pacific Biochar. Pacific Biochar produces the soil amendment commercially from plants in northern California and Hawaii and has also conducted field trials with Manteca Unified’s school farm. 10 | P a g e Through a phased development approach at the proposed location, the Historic City Hall could be renovated into an economic driver, such as a fresh food hall, garden-related retail space, or agricultural incubator space. A retail space would generate sales tax revenue for the City and operational revenue for the managing entity. Such a space could also function as a low-friction and low-risk method for residents to develop and market value-added agricultural product concepts and to connect workforce trainees with career opportunities. At its heart, this concept theme revolves around a site that supports community-based economic development and wealth building. This approach builds on local talents, capacities, facilities, and capital and financial flows to develop locally owned—and often community-owned—businesses that are anchored in place and can sustain the local economy for the long haul. In Lodi, that could take shape as a working group using the garden to explore worker-owned agricultural cooperatives or a greywater or solar installation training site. This effect would be multiplied if institutions steering the project, like the City or Adventist Health Lodi Memorial, aligned their procurement and contracting with the project’s programs. A public community garden could support a community-focused approach to building wealth in Lodi. Source: Cities Building Community Wealth, by Marjorie Kelly and Sarah McKinley 11 | P a g e Public gardens also act as underappreciated economic drivers through garden tourism. Recent research estimates show U.S. public gardens received 78 million annual visitors– more than travel to Las Vegas and Orlando combined. Visits to gardens are often part of an overall trip to a region and there is a strong cross- over to other forms of tourism. Gardens are also particularly attractive to seniors with more disposable income. Indeed, tour operators say that having gardens on a tour is a strong factor in people choosing it. Outdoor Education Multiple types of educational gardens are possible: • Children’s Garden – offers a natural play environment not found elsewhere in Lodi; • Private Plots – for those who want a traditional community garden plot; • Pollinators’ Patch – an educational and functional native landscape that showcases beneficial insects; • Our Native Central Valley – describes the unique ecosystem endemic to the California Delta; and • Sensory Garden – a garden designed around color, smell, taste, and touch. A public garden could provide unique enriching activities for school groups, such as WOW Science Museum field trips or outdoor classroom days, child care providers, birthday parties, and summer camps. Outdoor environments inspire children to be more physically active, improving public health. Case Study: Service Learning at Groundwork Richmond Aside from providing outdoor education on site, the garden can serve as a jumping-off point for service-learning opportunities around the city. The Groundwork Program of the National Park Service builds community capacity to improve the environmental, economic and social conditions in communities impacted by brownfields and derelict lands. It supports the establishment and early success of locally organized and led nonprofit organizations to develop community-based partnerships which empower people, businesses and organizations to promote environmental, economic and social well-being. Founded in 2010, Groundwork Richmond serves East Bay youth ages 13-19 through service- learning opportunities in its Green Team. The Green Team participates in environmental stewardship projects, relevant pre-employment training, community art projects, and STEAM education. Groundworks Richmond benefits the community by creating a safe place and gateway to opportunities for high school aged youth in city where the overall crime rate is nearly 50% higher than the national average. New communities selected for the Groundwork Program receive up to $200,000 in funding and technical assistance from the National Park Service, US Environmental Protection Agency, and Groundwork USA to plan, establish, and build the capacity of a Groundwork Trust organization in their community. 12 | P a g e Shade Tree Program A shade tree program would provide a location to grow and distribute native shade trees to cool our homes naturally and to beautify our neighborhoods. Such a program would also bring the electric utility in line with other hot California cities that provide free shade trees, including Sacramento, Anaheim, Burbank, Glendale, Modesto, Needles, Pasadena, Riverside, Roseville, Turlock, and Stockton. Many utilities provide free trees or rebates for purchasing “Put street trees almost everywhere. trees, a program that was first initiated by SMUD, the first There is no better use of public funds.” utility in the nation to offer a large‐scale tree planting Jeff Speck, Walkable City Rules program. This program provides trees to shade residential and commercial buildings, reducing the need for air conditioning and lowering energy consumption. Customers in the Sacramento area have been receiving such trees for more than two decades, and the utility has planted more than half a million since 1990. The Lodi Electric Utility could offer a similar shade tree program in Lodi through its public benefits demand-side reduction program. This would keep ratepayer dollars local and provide multiple benefits besides simply lower energy bills—trees improve public health and safety by creating safer walking environments and appropriate urban traffic speeds, increase foot traffic for businesses and home values, offset the need for more expensive stormwater infrastructure, absorb pollutants, and reduced “If, in an American city, you wanted to make a blood pressure, improve overall emotional and psychological health, and add 40-60% to the life major positive impact on an existing street and of asphalt streets. The electric utility currently had a limited budget, you might well sends ratepayer dollars out of the city to a recommend planting trees as the way to get contractor to administer a rebate program for the most impact for your money.” purchases made at big box home improvement Allan B. Jacobs, In Defense of Street Trees stores. In Texas, 'price tags' on trees teach residents their value. Source: Tyler Morning Telegraph. 13 | P a g e Top: Three rows of street trees shade West Elm Street at Rose Street. Bottom: No street trees shade West Elm Street just one mile away at Allen Drive. The City could help by offering free trees to property owners. Steering Committee Structure The City should not attempt to create a community garden in a vacuum. As previously described, there is existing widespread support among residents for this type of project, a type of project that naturally lends itself to a community visioning process. As part of that visioning process, the project should have a leadership structure that represents stakeholder interests. The reciprocity map illustration below shows how a partnership around this project is a two-way street; involvement in creating and operating a community garden benefits the involved group as well as the garden. A steering committee should work through a dialogue that captures these benefits and includes a range of this diverse set of possible stakeholders. The leadership and organization here could also take the form of a non-profit community development corporation or land trust and board of directors. 14 | P a g e Stakeholders each have something to give and to receive from involvement in a community garden program. Source: Start a Community Food Garden: The Essential Handbook by LaManda Joy Members of Lodi’s existing agricultural community and economic cluster are a natural starting point for developing a stakeholder structure and the garden could use starts from local growers to honor and showcase Lodi's long agricultural history and present. From there, just some of the key partners in this group could include:  Agricultural and Business Institutions: The Lodi Winegrape Commission could find a benefit from involvement—the Commission could showcase the LODI RULES Sustainable Winegrowing Program in action a block away from the downtown tasting rooms. The project is also an opportunity for local farm- to-fork restaurants in Lodi, like Towne House, Pietro’s, and the upcoming Lake House development, to increase their customer outreach through sponsorship of the garden. 15 | P a g e   Educational Institutions: The UC Agriculture and Natural Resources and the San Joaquin County Master Gardeners Program are clear fits as partner projects. The World of Wonders Science Museum and the Lincoln Technical Academy would also be natural partners due to the proposed project location, giving the organizations the ability to deliver outdoor lessons in topics from soil science to ecology.  Public Health Institutions: Adventist Health Lodi Memorial Hospital would be another critical partner due to its community health outreach ability and anchor institution status. Regional food banks and the Salvation Army’s Culinary Arts Program would benefit from the ongoing ability to receive donations of fresh fruit and vegetables or direct food insecure people to the garden. These organizations could provide nutrition and cooking education.  Non-Profit Institutions: Finally, neighboring residents and community organizations such as Tree Lodi, Bike Lodi, and the Lodi Garden Club provide a ready source of volunteers and community engagement. The Lodi Historical Society would be a resource for any historic City Hall renovation. Case Study: Following Fort Wayne, Indiana “The City of Fort Wayne used $400,000 in CDBG funds to renovate a retired, vacant fire station in the heart of a low and moderate-income neighborhood. The innovative project resulted in a state- of-the-art kitchen facility used to provide monthly healthy eating and cooking classes to residents of the neighborhood. Several adjacent vacant lots were used, in addition to the Fire Station, to create an urban garden in a neighborhood that did not have access to fresh produce. During the summer months, the provider hosts a weekly farmer’s market with a variety of fruits, vegetables and more. An organization called Growing Minds operates the urban farm and commercial kitchen facility in conjunction with a mentoring program for low-income children. The program aims to increase leadership, scholarship, citizenship and economic development opportunities for youth and their families.” – CDBG Works, How Mayors Put CDBG to Work Funding Realizing the Vision: Multiple Streams and Sources of Funding The Community Development Block Grant Program is just one source of funding for a community development project like this paper proposes. There are also a number of other sources and streams of funding to realize this project. This paper does not propose a capital or operating budget at this preliminary stage because the scale and specifics of this concept should be developed through a community and stakeholder engagement process as previously described. The following is a partial list of project thematic areas with example sources of funding. Climate Change Adaptation and Resiliency Programs – State Funding e.g., California Climate Investments A statewide initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, strengthen the economy, and improve public health and the environment—particularly in disadvantaged communities like Lodi. Millions of dollars are 16 | P a g e available through State grant programs for green infrastructure, organics, urban greening, and community solar projects and programs. Case Study: Investments from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund In the California Natural Resources Agency’s most recent round of funding for the Urban Greening Program, the agency awarded $24.7 million for projects that create more sustainable, enjoyable, and healthy cities. These projects established and enhance parks and open space, using natural solutions to improving air and water quality and reducing energy consumption, while adding more walkable and bike-able trails. The City of McFarland earned $1.8 million for the first phase of its community garden and trail concept. CalReycle administers the Food Waste Prevention and Rescue Grant Program to reduce the amount of food being disposed in landfills. In the last round of funding, grants of up to $500,000 each were available to purchase equipment, hire personnel, and development programs to recover food through methods that support job creation and training programs as well as outreach and education. Sutter Health received more than $300,000 to engage Sutter’s ten hospital facilities in the Central Valley Region in a food waste prevention and edible food donation program. Through CALFIRE’s Urban and Community Forestry Program, the City of El Centro in Imperial County developed a “Free Trees” program last year to plant and maintain 1,000 climate appropriate trees within the city, primarily on private property and school grounds. The program will also help to combat unemployment by supporting jobs and building strong partnerships with local organizations like Future Farmers of America and local school districts. The project will train and provide stipend-based jobs for 25 certified Tree Stewards to engage the community and help support planting and maintenance activities. These entry point “tree-jobs” will serve residents in low-income and disadvantaged communities by providing opportunities for a career pathway into the broader sector tree-care industry. Park Development Bonds – State Funding e.g., Statewide Park Program, Proposition 68 The City will have a second opportunity in the coming years to apply for $8.5 million grants intended to create new parks and expand existing ones. This source of funding could be used for the project’s expansion phase. Outdoor Education – Corporate and Foundation Giving e.g., Clarence E. Heller Charitable Foundation Grant One of many foundations that fund outdoor education and learning, this foundation makes grants up to $200,000 for California-based groups that provide environmental and arts education opportunities to children and youth. 17 | P a g e Workforce Development – Federal Funding e.g., 2014 Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act A community garden could function as a site for certified providers to provide training in O*NET Green Occupations such as precision agriculture, weatherization, and soil conservation technicians. Workforce Programs are able to export education and training services and attract dollars that pay for the programming and circulate in the local economy. The US EPA also awards Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training Grants of up to $200,000 to nonprofits and local governments to develop environmental training programs based on local employers’ hiring needs for residents near brownfields. Brownfield Cleanup – Federal Funding e.g., US EPA Brownfields Program The City will need to address the brownfield status of the Union Pacific parcels south of the proposed pilot site should the garden expand. Through US EPA's Brownfields Program, applicants can request grants up to $500,000 per year to address contamination and up to $1 million to capitalize a revolving loan fund to provide continuing support. Case Study: US EPA Funding Supports Community Development Pickens, a small rural town in the upstate of South Carolina, received a US EPA Brownfield grant award, which set into motion a project consisting of ten local, state, and federal grants totaling $1.5 million in awards and matching funds to create to create a “rails to trails” project along the abandoned Doodle Rail Line and an 8-mile asphalt multi-use trail was born. With the popularity of trail projects sweeping the nation, it seemed only logical to follow suit. There was only one problem: the blighted rail depot which sat at the trailhead in Pickens. Brownfield funding acted as the catalyst for redevelopment and the city was able to leverage funds from multiple agencies. A South Carolina Department of Commerce Community Development Block Grant was used to demolish the building. A grant from the South Carolina Recreational Trails Program allowed for the extension of the trail through the future park site to Highway 8 to allow for safe passage to the historic downtown. The Appalachian Regional Commission awarded $500,000 to create the Pickens Doodle Park, which boasts an open-air farmers market created in the likeness of the historic train depot, ADA accessible playground and outdoor exercise equipment and a sensory rain garden for children with sensory processing disorders. Additional local and state grant awards will allow for additional amenities including solar lights, a mural, art sculptures, a mobile app, and kiosks. Adapted from https://www.terracon.com/2018/06/05/brownfield-funding-drives- redevelopment/ 18 | P a g e Sustaining the Vision: Aligning Existing Expenditures This proposal identifies just a few existing expenditures by the City and possible partners that could be aligned to support this project to better achieve their intended purpose while bringing more co-benefits to Lodi. For example, the City recently spent more than $46,000 on billboards advertising water conservation. Realizing this concept could mean using that money to support a half-time coordinator to manage the site and coordinate water conservation workshops and demonstration landscaping. Similarly, the electric utility spends more than half a million dollars a The City Council authorized $46,800 in June 2019 year through its public benefits program; some to advertise conservation and storm water of that funding goes to a contract consultant management programs on billboards for two outside of Lodi that administers the efficiency years. Instead, it could have contracted for a half- rebate program. Instead, the City could examine how to incorporate a home-grown time coordinator to manage the garden and shade tree program, keeping jobs and coordinate educational workshops. ratepayer dollars local. Going a step further, the City could work with project partners to align funding around this project. Lodi Memorial has identified obesity and youth development as community health assessment priority areas, including providing activities to encourage a physically active lifestyle, access to healthy foods, and access to youth programming. The hospital is increasing community knowledge of healthy nutrition by providing nutritional support services accessible to the entire community, regardless of their ability to pay, by conducting a series of educational and cooking classes to increase parent and children’s knowledge about healthy eating and nutrition. In fact, the hospital’s long-term objective in this area is to identify sustainable food partners such as community garden or pop-up fresh food markets to provide more nutritious food options within at-risk communities. Recommended Action The proposed first step for this project is that the Committee take the concept described here to relevant City departments, such as Community Development, Public Works, Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Services, and Business Development. This paper proposes an initial meeting with City staff to receive feedback and input on the project’s intent, the feasibility of the proposed location, and other barriers and opportunities this concept presents. Following engagement with City staff, this proposal urges the City Council to pass a motion directing the Committee to lead, with City staff support, efforts to: establish a steering committee and recommended governance structure; engage stakeholders in a preliminary visioning process; recommend funding sources; and inventory current City expenses to find avenues of alignment between this project and existing outlays. The Council has an opportunity to make Lodi a safer, healthier, and more economically resilient place to live and work. The Council can accomplish this through meaningful partnerships with the city’s anchor institutions, thoughtful investment of grant funds from the Community Development Block Grant Program and other opportunities, and through the alignment of existing expenditures and a shared responsibility with stakeholders who want to see the first public community garden in the City of Lodi. 19 | P a g e Resources Local Agency Strategies for Funding the Development and Maintenance of Parks and Recreation Facilities in California, ChangeLab Solutions (2015), available at http://www.changelabsolutions.org/sites/default/files/Parks- Financing_White-Paper_FINAL_20150713.pdf Community Garden Start-Up Guide, University of California Cooperative Extension (2001), available at http://celosangeles.ucdavis.edu/files/97080.pdf Public Garden Funding Resources, American Public Gardens Association, available at https://www.publicgardens.org/public-garden-funding-resources Natural Resources & Waste Diversion Programs, California Climate Investments, available at http://www.caclimateinvestments.ca.gov/natural-resources-waste-diversion Understanding Diet’s Role in Disease is Key to Good Health, Healthy Lodi Initiative, available at http://healthylodi.com/diets-role/ 2017 Community Health Plan, Adventist Health Lodi Memorial Hospital, available at https://www.adventisthealth.org/documents/lodimemorial/community- benefit/Final_2017_CHP_LodiMemorial_Revised_2.pdf Start a Community Food Garden: The Essential Handbook, LaManda Joy, Timber Press (2014) Public Produce: The New Urban Agriculture, Darrin Nordahl, Island Press (2009) Community Food Forests: Fruitful and Fire-Smart (2018), USDA Forest Service Urban Webinars, slides available at https://www.fs.fed.us/research/urban-webinars/community-food-forests/ 22 Benefits of Urban Street Trees, by Dan Burden (2006) available at https://ucanr.edu/sites/sjcoeh/files/74156.pdf Planning for Urban Trees: An Urban Forest Advocate’s Guide to California Planning, California ReLeaf (2019), available at https://californiareleaf.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Planning-for-Trees-Guide-7.3.19.2-2.pdf CDBG Works, How Mayors Put CDBG to Work, The U.S. Conference of Mayors (2017) available at http://www.usmayors.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/17.34.USCM_.CDBG_.Works_.D5.3.pdf (Public) Gardens and Tourism: A Match for Success, Presentation to the Smithsonian, Dr. Richard W. Benfield (2014) slides available at http://web.ccsu.edu/faculty/benfield/smithsonian.pptx Garden Tourism, Richard Benfield, CABI (2013) Promising Practices in Green Job Creation: A Resource Guide for Local Leaders (2010) Institute for Sustainable Communities, available at https://community-wealth.org/sites/clone.community- wealth.org/files/downloads/tool-ISC-green-job-creation-guide.pdf Cities Building Community Wealth, Marjorie Kelly and Sarah McKinley, Democracy Collaborative (2015), available at https://democracycollaborative.org/sites/clone.community- wealth.org/files/downloads/CitiesBuildingCommunityWealth-Web.pdf Endless Bounty: The Transformative Benefits of Public Markets, Project for Public Spaces (2010), available at https://www.pps.org/article/the-benefits-of-public-markets 20 | P a g e Proposed Parking Design Standards Update to Promote Shade Trees in Parking Lots Doug Bojack Chair, Lodi Improvement Committee Fall 2019 Lodi encourages best practices for parking design in its development guidelines: (LMC 17.32.110) Shade fifty percent of the asphalt area within five years from time of installation. Visually break up large paved areas with landscaping Reduce the amount of storm water run-off resulting from the lot So what’s required by LMC 17.32.070 - Parking design standards? Continuous curbing between all parking and landscaped areas No stormwater run-off reduction requirement or incentive No shade requirement or incentive Parking Design Standards Parking Design Guidelines Required Desired Built Shelved So how do we get away from this… Food 4 Less and Home Depot Parking Lots, Lodi Source: Google …to this… S Street Parking Lot, Sacramento Source: https://urlzs.com/KqEzR …when code requirements conflict? Source: LMC 17.32.070 Mandated Parking Space Size Minimums Sacramento’s Parking Minimums Source: Sacramento City Code 17.608.040  Avoiding Overregulation of Full Sized Parking Spaces Parking Space Lodi Minimum Sacramento Lodi Minimum Sacramento Type Space Depth Minimum Space Width Minimum Space Depth Space Width Parallel 24 feet 22 feet 10 feet 8 feet 45° 20.5-21.2 feet 18 feet 9-10 feet 8.5 feet 60° 21.8-22.3 feet 19 feet 9-10 feet 8.5 feet 90° 20 feet 18 feet 9-10 feet 8.5 feet  Parking Spaces in Practice Parking Space Lodi Minimum Sacramento Lodi Minimum Sacramento Type Space Depth Minimum Space Width Minimum Space Depth Space Width 90° 20 feet 18 feet 9-10 feet 8.5 feet One Parking Lot Space in Sacramento = 153 SF One Parking Lot Space in Lodi = 200 SF, over 30% larger At a recently approved infill site with 120 parking spaces, that results in more than 5,600 square feet of extra, impervious asphalt required instead of beneficial landscaping or property-tax-generating building envelope Case Study: Community Medical Center, Lodi 2019 Source: SPARC Site Plan and Architectural Review, July 10, 2019 Individual Tree Wells Source: SPARC Site Plan and Architectural Review, July 10, 2019 Small trees with stunted canopies Source: SPARC Site Plan and Architectural Review, July 10, 2019 Recommended Designs Source: San Mateo County Sustainable Green Streets and Parking Lots Handbook (2013) Source: San Mateo County Sustainable Green Streets and Parking Lots Handbook (2013) Continuous beds for more shade Source: Fowler (2011) Continuous beds for healthier trees Source: Fowler (2011) Implementation Approaches Reward-Based Incentives Mandate-Based Incentives  “Reward-based incentives  “Mandate-based incentives require a compensate a developer or property developer or property owner to owner for incorporating green street employ green street and/or parking and parking lot elements into their lot strategies or their on-site project. this type of incentive may stormwater management fee will be include utility fee discounts, tax levied or increased. These incentives benefits, project grant funding, or can result in a more wide-spread even expedited review of application of green street and development proposals.” parking lot projects, but they can also set a more negative tone to a positive effort. This approach may also create a burden for municipal staff by creating a larger green street and parking lot program than originally anticipated.” Source: San Mateo County Sustainable Green Streets and Parking Lots Handbook (2013) Recommended Actions The Planning Commission should propose updated parking design standards language that requires or incentivizes:  Lodi’s parking space sizes be aligned with best practices Source: https://pdxshoupistas.com/6-parking-policy-priorities-for-portland/ 50% shading on all new parking lot development Source: City of Sacramento Parking Lot Tree Shading Design and Maintenance Guidelines (2003) The use of structural soil mix under paving to retain parking space while increasing soil volume and supporting parking lot shade trees Source: Wikipedia 500 cubic feet minimum soil for trees in new commercial and public developments Source: City of Sacramento Parking Lot Tree Shading Design and Maintenance Guidelines (2003) Tree care be performed under the supervision of a certified arborist Source: TreePeople.org Curb cuts for green infrastructure that results in on-site percolation and minimization of runoff to storm drains Source: City of Sacramento Parking Lot Tree Shading Design and Maintenance Guidelines (2003) Thank you and Questions Resources  City of Sacramento Parking Lot Tree Shading Design and Maintenance Guidelines (2003), available at https://www.cityofsacramento.org/- /media/Corporate/Files/Public-Works/Maintenance- Services/ShadingGuidelines2003-(1).pdf?la=en  San Mateo County Sustainable Green Streets and Parking Lots Handbook (2013), available at https://www.flowstobay.org/documents/municipalities/sustainable%20streets /San%20Mateo%20Guidebook.pdf  David Fowler, Achieving the Goal of 25% Canopy Coverage in Phoenix by 2030, 2011 ALSA Student Awards, available at https://www.asla.org/2011studentawards/136.html LODI IMPROVEMENT COMMITTEE BY-LAWS SECTION I. GENERAL PURPOSE The Lodi Improvement Committee is organized and created for the purposes of maintaining and improving the quality of life and appearance of Lodi by the coordinated efforts of a broad spectrum of the community. Or Lodi Improvement Committee acts as the community development advisory board to the City of Lodi. SECTION 2. SPECIFIC GOALS/ PURPOSES The Committee is organized and created to: A) Promote sustainable sources of food, housing, transportation, energy, jobs, and Formatted: Font: (Default) Arial, 12 pt other vital aspects of a thriving community through participative government and Formatted: List Paragraph, Numbered + grassroots economic empowerment; Level: 1 + Numbering Style: A, B, C, … + B) Identify and advocate for public policies that remove barriers to solving common Start at: 1 + Alignment: Left + Aligned at: 0.25" + Indent at: 0.5" problems; C) Educate residents and city decision makers about the potential of new community development strategies; Formatted: Font: (Default) Arial, 12 pt D) Build relationships among community-based organizations to enable and maintain a flourishing, inclusive city; and Formatted: Font: (Default) Arial, 12 pt E) Train the next generation of community-based leaders to meet the needs of community residents. F) Advocate for underrepresented groups including people experiencing homelessness G) Promote participatory government (civic engagement), including the community engagement process for the CDBG program. H) Connect community needs to community resources, such as providing information on City and Non-City resources and funds I) Promote safer neighborhoods within the Heritage district. J) Educate the public and City about LIC activities and goals Formatted: Font: (Default) Arial, 12 pt A) To combat illegal drugs, prostitution, and other crimes by such measures as cooperation with or establishment of groups such as Crime Stoppers and Neighborhood Watch. B) To eliminate blight and encourage the maintenance, improvement, or rehabilitation of properties throughout Lodi, with the cooperation of residents, property owners, business, and government. C) To act as an advocate for residents in issues dealing with the upgrade, improvement and maintenance of all infrastructure, including streets, alleys, water, sewer and storm drainage systems. D) To encourage compliance with building, housing, fire, and other health and safety laws, and local property maintenance ordinances by property owners, residents, and businesses. E) To coordinate with churches, civic and community groups, and other community based organizations to educate and inform the public on ways of achieving these goals, and to keep the public informed of the efforts. F) To work with business community to encourage a healthy business climate. G) Provide acknowledgement to properties and businesses throughout the City that show marked improvements in service and appearance that contributes to the image and quality of the community.