09.17.19 Regular Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council Meeting Minutes September 17, 2019 A motion was made by Council Member Rockeymoore, seconded by Council Member Gonzales, to approve the appointment of Mayor Pro Tem Prewitt to serve on the Hays County Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee. The motion carried by the following vote: For: 6 - Council Member Gonzales, Council Member Derrick, Mayor Hughson, Council Member Mihalkanin, Council Member Marquez and Council Member Rockeymoore Against: 0 Abstain: 1 - Mayor Pro Tem Prewitt 25. Discuss an Ordinance recommendation from the Sustainability Committee that requires a certain percentage of industrial and commercial land development be placed in a land bank for local organic urban farm production, and provide direction to Staff. Mayor Pro -Tem Prewitt, Council Member Rockeymoore, and Council Member Marquez are the current members on the Sustainability Committee and provided a brief presentation. As San Marcos continues to become more urbanized, one of the initiatives that the Sustainability committee would like to bring forward is a policy to encourage land banking for local urban farms. We recognize that many land owners that once grew crops or used for cattle ranching is being sold for commercial, industrial and residential development. We find value in health rich soils that can be used to nourish communities with healthy produce and would like to find a way to promote small urban farming. Urban agriculture is increasingly recognized for its capacity to, strengthen the resilience of the urban food system, enhance access of the urban poor to nutritious food, generate (self-) employment and income, and help cities to adapt to climate change and reduce their ecological foot print. Climate change and climate -related disasters add to the challenges already faced by cities and are recognized as one of the most serious environmental, societal and economic challenges facing the world today. Most cities will experience more heat waves, which leads to an increase in the amount of energy used for cooling and refrigeration purposes, more problems with air pollution and smog, and related health problems. Climate change will disproportionally affect the large numbers of urban poor and vulnerable groups. Growing urban poverty, hunger and lack of formal employment, as well as the special opportunities that a city provides for farmers (including the growing urban demand for food, herbs and plants, proximity to markets and availability of cheap resources such as urban organic wastes and wastewater) have stimulated the development of a diversity of agricultural production systems in and around cities, often specialized in perishable products, such as green leafy vegetables, milk, eggs and meat, taking advantage of vacant open City of San Marcos page 20