Courtesy of City of New Albany
From lush green space to crisp air, the City of New Albany has strategically planned how to preserve and enhance its ecosystem.
Jennifer Chrysler, director of community development for the city, describes many ongoing and recent city initiatives to help strengthen the sustainability pillar and overall environment.
- The city maintains a one-unit-per-acre overall density requirement for residential development to preserve open space.
- The wetland mitigation banking makes sure that, when wetlands are removed for development, it’s equally replaced within a certain area.
- In 2019, the SmartRide New Albany program, in partnership with the Central Ohio Transit Authority, moved more than 24,000 people in and out of the community using mass transit.
- Within the last year, a storm water policy was enacted to help protect waterways. The Rose Run Stream, a part of the upcoming Rose Run Park, was a large consideration for this policy.
- New Albany offers a Green Building Incentive Program that provides permit discounts and income tax credits to businesses that follow eco-friendly standards.
“For us, it’s really about environmental sustainability and how we can be role models for creating programs that can be scalable and can help and enhance the natural environment,” Chrysler says.
Photo courtesy of the City of New Albany
2019 is a big year for the pillar. In the past, the city’s written strategic plan always included aspects of sustainability, but this year an entire chapter will be added that solely focuses on sustainability.
“This is one of the largest updates we have ever done to our strategic plan,” Chrysler says.
A sustainability subcommittee comprising of New Albany residents will help carry out the goals and missions of this new chapter. Chrysler envisions ideas like bike share groups or solar power enhancements to come from the team, and she’s excited to see what tremendous goals will be brought to life.
“Things that have been developed because of the pillars are aspirational projects: the McCoy, Rose Run Park, the Heit Center; these are things that have changed people’s lives not just in New Albany but all over central Ohio,” she says. “I’m excited to see what the subcommittee comes up with and I think it will be fun to implement those ideas.”
Lydia Freudenberg is the brand loyalty specialist. Feedback welcome at lfreudenberg@cityscenemediagroup.com.
