Planner targets reliance on cars

By Tyler Olsen Morning Star Staff Jul 01 2007 http://www.vernonmorningstar.com/

A Vernon that respects the environment is possible, but it won’t be easy, according to local advocates of sustainable environment policies. At the head of a lengthy list is reducing Vernonites reliance on their cars, according to Tom Lancaster, project manager for Vernon’s official community plan review and a planner for Smart Growth Action Services. “We have to slowly change this town into one that doesn’t rely on the automobile as much,” said Lancaster, in a wide ranging interview between focus group meetings at city hall. “That’s not going to happen overnight and it’s going to be a transition.”

Ridding the world of cars is impossible, but Lancaster said that by giving drivers options and alternatives to their vehicles, Vernonites will be happier, healthier and more environmentally responsible. “If you could get rid of half of (vehicles) on a daily basis, you would have a healthier population, you would have a wealthier population, you would have better local business that would be more suited to be local. You have more positive social interaction.” With Canadians increasingly concerned about the environment, local politicians have become increasingly vocal about their support for Smart Growth principles. Smart Growth is a local, municipal planning approach to creating cities and towns that will be able to thrive in a changing world.

More investment in public transit is needed, said Lancaster. But Vernon also needs an entirely new approach to development and new neighbourhoods. One of the pillars of Smart Growth is the idea of mixed neighbourhoods. Gated and age-restricted communities are seen negatively, with Smart Growth advocating for a range of different social and age groups in any one neighbourhood. The goal is to encourage neighbourhoods that feel like home and in which residents feel comfortable. “You need the vibrancy of youth, you need the vibrancy of children, you need the whole spectrum and I think for a long time we’ve developed cities where we segregate people of the various age groups,” said Lancaster. “It doesn’t work. You’ve got to mix all these things together to the point where older folks are no longer walking down the street and are afraid of the youth because they don’t live by them or youth are not going around making jokes at the expense of older folks or you don’t have people complining about the noise of young children bouncing a ball on the street.

“It’s ridiculous,” Lancaster said of gated age-restricted communities. “Part of life is all the different age groups and we need to wrap our minds around that.” Sigrid-Ann Thors, co-chairperson of the Sustainable Environmental Network Society, agrees. The former mayor and outspoken environmentalist says turning Vernon into a sustainable city will not be easy, but it is possible. More bike lanes, xeriscaped gardens needing a mininum of water, community gardens and buying local food are just a couple of the keys to reshaping a Vernon for a warming world, according to Thors. But she also thinks Canadians need to take a closer look at their lifestyle choices. She openly questions the sustainability of popular attractions like Silver Star Mountain.

Some of her ideas are bound to stir passions, both for and against. But there are also easy and free ways to make Vernon more sustatinable. “People dont realize it isn’t just the air, and it isn’t just the air and the water it’s how we live and there are so many aspects to it that are all environmental. Everything we do has to do with the environment.” Just turning the water off when brushing one’s teeth or placing recyclable material into a blue bag, rather than a garbage can is a step in the right direction. “It doesn’t cost you anymore than a box of blue bags to recycle.”

A sustainable Vernon, doesn’t mean a city that outlaws any sort of growth, according to Vernon Mayor Wayne Lippert. One of the reasons the city chose Smart Growth Action Services for the OCP review, he said, was because they realized that growth is possible in a sustainable context. “Development doesn’t have to be bad. It’s looking for the right kind of development.” That has meant turning away some developers who came to council looking to do things the same as they have been done in the past, said Lippert. But he said it has also drawn others to the city.