By NANCY WELCH

At their June 4 work session, Laurel Mayor Keith Sydnor and the city council discussed adopting “Our Voice, Our Future,” the 2025 Laurel Sustainability Plan. If passed, the plan will enable departments throughout the city government to collaborate on and implement programs designed to address critical issues and ensure the health and well-being of the community, its economy and the greater natural environment.

Michele Blair, sustainability manager with the city’s Department of Economic and Community Development, who attended the June 4 work session, outlined the plan’s four foundational pillars: people, planet, prosperity and peace and partnership for the mayor and city council. The pillars are designed to promote equity, health and wellness; promote responsible environmental management; support local businesses and economic growth; and embrace cooperative planning and implementation of projects throughout the community.

When asked by Councilmember Christine Johnson (At-Large) about short- and long-term planning and implementation, Blair noted that demonstrating progress was an important factor and pointed to the installation of motion-sensor lights in city offices as a short-term action for this fiscal year. Purchasing electric vehicles for city use, a long-term goal, would call for more planning and additional funding.

“Low-hanging fruit that is near-term because we want to show ourselves, our residents, that we’re making progress, that we’re moving that needle,” Blair said, adding, “I think some [goals] will change over time, depending on funding,” adding, “We’re always looking for grants.”

Blair also emphasized the council’s role in potentially adopting the sustainability plan. “The resolution [to ratify the plan] is your voice as elected officials and the administration supporting this road map and saying ‘this is what we want to follow as a city,’” she said. Underscoring that much of the framework grew out of residents’ participation in the planning process, she said, “[The plan stands] as the voice of the residents, because this is what they have put together to create a long-term sustainable community.”

History

Laurel has been making major strides toward sustainability for several decades, starting with earning Tree City USA designation in 1993. Other milestones quickly followed: establishment of an environmental affairs committee (2003), the debut of single-stream recycling (2007), Sustainable Community designation by the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (2011), and Sustainable Maryland certification by the University of Maryland (2015). Both the state designation and university certification are regularly reviewed, and each of the city’s renewal applications for these programs has been approved. Laurel also holds Bee City USA certification and was a leader in banning single-use plastic bags.

Laurel notched more marks on its sustainability belt iIn 2017 when the city pledged to uphold Paris Climate Accord commitments, and in 2019 launched its food-scrap composting initiative, becoming the first jurisdiction in the state to take this step. (For more about this now-mandatory recycling initiative, see Paul Ruffins’ article on page __.) In 2021, the city created the Department of Environmental Programs.

A New Chapter

City residents and civic leaders joined forces in 2021 to create a comprehensive framework for a sustainable future, one based on integrating city operations and community engagement. Michele Blair, sustainability manager with the city’s Department of Economic and Community Development, described the plan as a road map and a living document — a framework for collaborative growth.

During a 2021 presentation, she described Laurel’s need for and readiness to create such a plan:
“While we, the city, knew … that we had many programs that supported sustainability, we realized that the city lacked a formal plan that many of our sister cities and surrounding counties had. This lack of focus prevented us from streamlining programs and getting our residents and businesses fully engaged in a sustainable Laurel.”
The plan grew out of resident-driven focus groups working closely with city officials. Outside organizations and experts contributed to the framework as well: The Metropolitan Washington Council on Governments (COG), an independent nonprofit representing some two dozen jurisdictions, provided consulting services, and a COG member with applicable expertise reviewed the city’s plan as it was being developed.

“The framework is going to be supported and energized and moved forward by the community,” Blair said in her closing presentation to the mayor and city council June 4. “That is the goal: We want the community to really take this ass their own and help us move the needle forward.”

Calvin Burns and Sophie Smith moved to Laurel in August 2024, bringing with them extensive experience in sustainability and community resilience. They are enthusiastic about the plan and eager to participate in community efforts. In an email, they wrote, “Laurel has a host of opportunities for sustainably-minded residents to get involved and make a difference. We’re excited to join this robust collective effort, and we’re grateful to have been so warmly and thoroughly welcomed into Laurel’s sustainable community. It speaks volumes that the city’s sustainability vision was not only curated by residents, but also continues to recruit and engage new residents to the cause.”

Laurel resident Jimmy Rogers, a tireless advocate for the importance of native plants and a regular columnist with The Laurel Independent, participated in a focus group addressing the city’s role in environmental stewardship. He noted that the group recommended a range of straightforward ways the city could address current concerns: “…this included protecting our few forested areas from new development, removing invasive species from city land and requiring the planting of only native species, and [designing] programs to encourage or subsidize residential native gardens (especially for underserved communities),” he wrote in an email. Rogers is glad to see his focus group’s ideas in the plan’s community framework section.

Public Hearings

During their regularly scheduled meeting on June 9, the mayor and city council held the first of two public hearings on the plan. Blair again presented the plan to attendees and encouraged the council to adopt the plan; no residents had registered to speak at the hearing, so there was no discussion before Clark adjourned the hearing. The second public hearing will take place on July 14 at the regularly scheduled Mayor and City Council meeting, at which time councilmembers will likely vote on the resolution to adopt the plan at that time.
The plan is available at tinyurl.com/9uf2ebpr