Environment & Sustainability Experts Panel Minutes

The Draft Recommendation of Energized Parking Requirements for Section 8 of the Envision St. John’s Development Regulations was presented by the Panel members and discussed. The review focused on commercial buildings with the inclusion of apartment buildings. Residential requirements may require updates to the building code as well as larger updates to distribution standards. The Panel agree with the recommendation as it is written with one minor change. The final recommendation will be provided to the Panel before proceeding to Council.

The following motions were put forward by the Chair:

The Sustainability Coordinator presented the engagement process and outlined the next steps of the Multi-stakeholder Working Group. The Panel were invited to provide feedback.

This item was deferred to a future meeting of the Panel.

Natalie Godden and Bruce Knox of Community Services were in attendance to present the St. John's Healthy City Strategy to the Panel. Members were asked to provide feedback and during discussion the following was noted: 

• The Healthy City Strategy is a long-term plan to improve the physical, mental, social, and environmental conditions that impact health.
• This long-term plan runs over 10 years with short, medium, and long-term goals designed to bring health to the forefront of decision making.
• An economic pillar was suggested by the Panel members. It was noted that in the new model for BC's Healthy Built Environment toolkit, a cross section of mental and social wellness and economic impacts has been added.
• Members noted the importance of the linkage between environment and urban design and built environment (designing green infrastructure). 
• It was recommended that the pillar should be labeled as 'Environment' with the asset of 'Protection of Environmental Benefits (Ecological Services)' which could further be expanded to include the protection of the natural environment - natural systems and ecosystems services including wetlands, natural flood mitigation and water cleansing, reduced air pollution due to planting sufficient trees, reduced urban heat impacts, and pollination.  
• The Multi-stakeholder Sustainability Team workshops will include members of the Healthy City Strategy group.

This matter will be discussed further at a future meeting of the Panel.