City seeks new 5-year sustainability plan

Long Beach’s 10-year Sustainable City Action Plan, adopted in 2010, has expired. So, city officials say, it’s time for a new one.

The document helped guide a new, sustainable policy approach to buildings, neighborhoods, energy, the economy, transportation, waste, water and more for a decade in Long Beach. But the city is still committed to those goals, according to a recent memo from City Manager Tom Modica, so the Office of Sustainability is currently working on a report that will analyze the accomplishments of the initial plan and how Long Beach should move forward.

One thing that is clear, Modica wrote, is that a new sustainability strategic plan “will have a shorter, five-year timeline to allow for greater flexibility and more frequent adjustments to new priorities and technologies as they develop.”

The development of the plan will also include community input, and the first opportunity for residents to participate will come on Earth Day, April 22. The city will host a virtual Earth Day Summit, which “will be focused on the major topics in sustainability today and what actions are most needed to make Long Beach a more sustainable, equitable, and resilient city,” Modica wrote.

For reservations to the virtual event, which will last from 1 to 4:30 p.m. April 22, visit bit. ly/2MRfSYd.