City Council Agenda and Packet 2023 11 06

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City Council Meeting Minutes March 21, 2023 Page 4 of 8 Tiffany Boyd, Louisville, urged Council to approve the ordinance. She stated this is a better option than having a special election on an initiated ordinance. This ordinance is supported by the Planning Commission and the Sustainability Board. She does not feel this will impede business but will show that Louisville cares about the community and future generations. She asked council to consider the changes requested by the Sustainability Board. Cynthia Come Musslewhite, Louisville, stated coming out of the Marshall Fire we now have to view this through a lens of climate action. The community is fully behind these types of actions. We need to prioritize the community and the health of people. She urged a yes vote. Mayor Pro Tern Fahey stated she supported the original moratorium, however, this is more symbolic than it is impactful. This change would not impact the supply or availability of fossil fuels. She would prefer to use incentives rather than restrictions or negative requirements. She would rather see time, money, and resources spent on making City facilities more sustainable, building more bike lanes, and encouraging electric vehicles and bicycles. There are more effective ways to address this. Councilmember Dickinson stated this does seem a lot like optics; doing something that isn't going to have a huge effect but it gets a lot of attention. This likely won't change the amount of gas sold only where it is sold, however he also noted he doesn't see the business need for another station. We have a declining number of gas cars, but they aren't going away. Not building another gas station won't save the world, but adding one more is not a gain to the City of Louisville. We need to focus on other more impactful things in the end. This won't have a major impact on the environment or the economy but it is the right thing to do. Councilmember Hoefner stated he agrees with Mayor Pro Tern Fahey and Councilmember Dickinson, this isn't the highest impact sustainability item. He sees it more as a land use issue and the question is what is the appropriate number moving forward. It seems in the future gas will likely not be the priority it might be electric or hydrogen and for the most part the market will take care of that. Councilmember Hamlington asked if the City has the authority to enact rules for decommissioning should a fueling station go out of business. Director Zuccaro stated the City could adopt regulations but it would be a large under taking. The state does oversee and regulate decommissioning of gas stations and has rules in place for that. Councilmember Most agreed with Councilmember Dickinson this is a step we can take to help climate impact. It sends a signal that we want change. Additionally, it limits the emissions of volatile chemicals in Louisville and that impacts air quality locally. It doesn't make sense to promote more fossil fuel infrastructure. We have an obligation to balance the interests of business and our residents. We want to have a positive business climate but this is a community value we want to support. 19