City sustainability plan restarts with public meetings

After being put on hold earlier this year, the development of a community sustainability plan for the city of Sioux Falls is moving ahead.

There will be five public sessions in November to help inform the development of the Sustainable Sioux Falls Plan.

“Sustainability means meeting our own needs without negatively affecting the ability of future generations to meet their own needs,” the city said in a statement announcing the meetings. “A sustainable approach helps protect and preserve the natural environment, which contributes to well-being, a prosperous economy and a vibrant community for all.”

The process to develop a sustainability plan was started in the fall of 2020, and a preliminary plan was brought forward in March.

It called for Sioux Falls to achieve net-zero emissions for community and local government operations by 2050 while also aiming to reduce those emissions 45 percent below their 2019 levels in the next eight years.

Additional objectives of the plan include transitioning to clean energy and transportation, reducing waste, increasing local food production and access, developing land sustainably, improving community health, protecting water and biodiversity, and supporting green jobs and industry.

Following feedback from the business community and elected officials, city staff were directed to solicit additional input before bringing a plan forward, potentially next year.

The new round of meetings will start with a presentation, with questions and discussion to follow.

The goals of the public meetings “are to relay what we’ve been working on since the first draft was released in March and how we have been using feedback from the first draft to drive this next phase of the process,” said Holly Meier, the city’s sustainability coordinator. “We also want to hear from community members regarding their sustainable community priorities and their perspective on where the next draft of the plan is heading.”

The meetings are scheduled from 6 to 7 p.m. on the following dates:

• Nov. 7 at Ronning Library, 3100 E. 49th St.
• Nov. 9 at Prairie West Library, 7630 W. 26th St.
• Nov. 10 at Downtown Library, 200 N. Dakota Ave.
• Nov. 15  at Caille Library, 4100 S. Carnegie Circle.
• Nov. 17 at Oak View Library, 3700 E. Third St.

You can provide comments at the meetings or through this website.

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