Planners seek ways to make county greener

Local government leaders soon may be giving area residents help on living greener — whether they want it or not.

Planners with the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Department are beginning work on a new countywide environmental plan that could address everything from protecting prime farmland to regulating how people water their lawns.

“I think this plan is part of a recognition that we need to talk about being more environmentally sustainable,” said long-range planner Amy Brown, who is overseeing the creation of the new environmental chapter of Horizon 2020.

Planners thus far aren’t proposing any specific regulations or programs as part of the new chapter. Instead, they’re starting the process by asking the public to identify areas or issues that should be explored. The public will have its first opportunity to provide suggestions at a Planning Commission meeting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at City Hall, Sixth and Massachusetts streets.

“We don’t have a set frame of mind on where we’ll end up on this,” Brown said. “We’re going in with an open mind. We really want to hear what the public thinks is important.”

Based on an outline of possible topics that planners have put together, the plan could lead to new regulations to protect woodlands, wetlands, scenic vistas and other unique pieces of geography in Douglas County.

But the plan also could be much broader. The outline of possible topics includes conservation of energy and water, the use of public transit, energy efficiency standards in new construction and ways to increase recycling.

Lawrence City Commissioner Boog Highberger, who has been pushing for the new environmental plan for several years, said he hopes it is shaped with a basic question in mind.

“What we do now, will our children and grandchildren be able to do it in the future?” Highberger said. “If we take that long-term look, I think we’ll start doing things differently.”

But both Highberger and Brown acknowledge that the plan will require a significant balancing of interests. For example, requiring new home construction to be built to higher energy efficiency standards could create objections from people concerned about keeping housing prices affordable. Already, the discussion of whether industrial development should be allowed on prime farm ground has created concerns about property rights.

“I think that could be the overall issue we deal with — how you protect the environment versus how you protect property rights,” Brown said.

Another large issue could be whether commissioners choose to take a carrot or a stick approach. Brown said she believes there will be significant discussion about how to create incentives to get people to undertake environmentally friendly practices rather than creating new mandates.

Highberger agreed, but said mandates may have to be part of the equation, too.

“My preference is carrots,” Highberger said. “But carrots by themselves usually don’t do the trick.”

The new plan ultimately will be presented to both city and county commissioners for approval. Brown said that likely would not happen until next summer.