City Council Minutes 2022 11 01 - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council Meeting Minutes November 1, 2022 Page 5 of 8 Emma Webber, Boulder, urged a ban on the construction of new gas stations in Louisville. We need to transition to renewable energy for future generations and to address future climate disasters like the Marshall Fire. RJ Harrington, Louisville, stated business as usual cannot be the way forward. We need electric vehicle infrastructure not gas stations. We need to address climate change and one way to do this is to ban additional fossil fuel infrastructure. Councilmember Most stated we need to address this for future generations. She supports the moratorium to help make the transition to renewable energy no matter how painful it is. Mayor Stolzmann framed the conversation asking her fellow members to address if they want a moratorium, if it should be an emergency ordinance or not, and if section 2 should address building permits or not. Mayor Pro Tern Maloney stated his objection to an emergency ordinance is that there is not a chance for sufficient conversation with the community. Everyone here agrees with the need to reduce greenhouse gases and there is a climate crisis but building another gas station won't change how much gas people buy. He would like more time to understand the concept and what this does. He thinks current applications should be allowed to go through the quasi-judicial process under the current rules. Councilmember Leh stated this would change the rules in the middle of a quasi-judicial process. He doesn't want to start creating moratoria that affect existing applications. He is concerned about the process and if this a good way to govern, regardless of the issue. He does not support this as an emergency ordinance. Mayor Stolzmann stated she does not feel this is changing the rules for those already in process. This would only create a pause to allow a discussion about what we want. She prefers using an emergency ordinance. Councilmember Dickinson stated he is not trying to demonize gas stations, and he owns a gas car, but as consumer he feels his job is to limit his gas use moving forward. He also noted it is important to be fair to those applicants already in the process. We will need to have this conversation with or without the moratorium. It doesn't need to be through this legislation if we can't agree on this approach. Councilmember Brown stated this is one way we can lead as a local community. The climate crisis requires this emergency ordinance. It is important for us to reduce our carbon foot print and it is one of our values. The environmental impact of gas stations also includes leakage from gas tanks and other issues. He supports the moratorium. Public Comments