Plan to Make Hermosa a Green Beach City Underway

From waste management to transportation to water use to energy, the Hermosa Beach Green Task Force has officially begun to draft a sustainability plan to help reach its goal of branding Hermosa Beach as a "green beach city."

By doing so, the city is helping to meet the goals of state Assembly Bill 32, which passed in 2006.

"By 2010, Assembly Bill 32 requires reducing greenhouse gases by 20 percent," said Pam Townsend, senior planner for the city.

Townsend explained the process for creating the sustainability plan to the planning commission on Tuesday. The plan will be drafted in the next couple of months, she said, and then presented to the City Council in September.

The council announced in March that Hermosa Beach intended to become the first carbon neutral city in the South Bay, and was developing a climate action plan to meet that goal.

"That climate action plan and the sustainability plan are all part of the same thing, but sustainability is larger," Townsend said. "It deals with pollution, runoff and other issues as well" that especially affect the marine environment.

On a basic level, the sustainability plan will outline strategies to build a more eco-friendly community. But while the task force is preparing the plan, Townsend told the commission that the city should also actively work to combat climate change, before time runs out.

If California beach cities continue to emit medium to medium-high amounts of greenhouse gas, the average sea level along the state's coast is projected to rise from 1 to 1.4 meters by 2100, according to a Pacific Institute study. At that level, downtown Hermosa Beach will be at risk of serious flooding.

"It will put Pier Plaza completely underwater," Townsend said, citing the study.

After Townsend's presentation, commissioner Sam Perrotti asked the staff for specifics on recommendations concerning trash pickup in the city, such as a green waste program.

"Wasn't there going to be some sort of seal or container to use with trash in the downtown [area] that never happened?" commissioner Ron Pizer asked. "The trash is a problem… Over there by the theater it really stinks and other areas, it's a disgrace."

The city council recently directed the public works department to create a plan for a new waste facility in the downtown area, Townsend said. The city's waste contract ends next year, and it will bid to include other types of waste management services at that time.

But until then, the city's trash and recycle service provider, Consolidated Disposal, has agreed to start a pilot green waste division program in larger residential pickup areas near Hermosa Beach City School District campuses.

"They're supposed to start that any time now," Townsend said.

In the meantime, she added, the Green Task Force continues to accept comments on a sustainability matrix. The task force will meet July 12 at 7 p.m. in the council chambers. The public is invited.