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Task force to assess plans for N.C.’s growth
Story Date: 12/11/2012
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Source: NC DENR, 12/10/12
The North Carolina Sustainable Communities Task Force will meet from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesday at the Environment and Natural Resources Building, 217 West Jones St., Raleigh.
The meeting will be held in the building’s 5th floor Board Room (Room 5001). People unable to attend can listen to the discussion by calling 919-250-4221.
One goal Tuesday will be to agree on a set of survey questions the group intends to ask North Carolina communities during the next few months.
“Ultimately, we hope to gather information about the different actions communities are taking to plan for growth and then share that information with other North Carolina communities,” said Brian Byfield, the task force’s program director. “For example, if one community is doing something to save money by offering better choices in public transportation maybe this can be replicated across the state.”
Byfield said a number of innovative ideas have already surfaced during task force meetings. Officials with Gaston County Schools, for instance, have been saving money and protecting air quality since they started using biodiesel to power their entire fleet of school buses. That’s important now, but will become more crucial as more people move to the Tar Heel State, Byfield said.
The General Assembly created the task force in 2010 to lead the state’s sustainable communities initiatives. Sustainable communities balance economic and natural assets to meet the transportation, housing and other needs of residents. The task force comes about as North Carolina faces an estimated 30 percent increase in population by 2030.
The 13-person group includes senior staff from the state departments of Commerce, Health and Human Services, Administration, Environment and Natural Resources, Transportation and the N.C. Housing Finance Agency. It also includes planners and others appointed by the governor and state legislative leadership.
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