Lancaster officials preparing village to adapt to climate change - Buffalo News

Lancaster officials prep village to adapt to climate change

Extreme winter weather, flooding and extreme heat are the three biggest climate concerns facing the Village of Lancaster – if not most of Western New York.

The village is working to prepare itself and its residents for the effects of climate change. At the end of last month, it released a plan identifying strategies the municipality can employ to reduce the risk of potential impacts of climate hazards over the long term and adapt to ongoing changes.

Approximately $19 million will go into 22 projects in the City of Dunkirk and villages of Lancaster and Wellsville to make improvements to their downtown areas. Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Monday that there will be nine projects for Dunkirk – the recipient of a nearly $10 million DRI award – seven projects for Wellsville and eight for Lancaster – both winners of a $4.5 million NY Forward award.

The village worked with the University at Buffalo Regional Institute to develop its Climat e Resilience Plan.

“Th

e village wants to take proactive measures to ensure our community’s safety and sustainability in the future of climate hazards,” said Amy Stypa, the village’s sustainability and community climate energy coordinator.

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Lancaster’s strategy for addressing climate change is broken down into three broad categories: climate education and outreach, enhanced emergency operations and securing dedicated climate adaptation funding. The plan further broke down those categories into seven recommendations:

- Enhancing emergency operations for extreme weather events.
- Bolstering climate awareness and household hazard preparedness through education and outreach.
- Promoting sustainable development and protecting natural areas through land use regulations.
- Upgrading stormwater and sewer systems to mitigate flooding.
- Promoting green infrastructure on public and private property.
- Helping property owners upgrade structures to mitigate hazards.
- Increasing the use of climate-resilient building materials.

Carl Schurkus of the Village of Lancaster works at removing snow on the corner of Central Avenue and West Main Street after the December 2022 blizzard.

The village will use these recommendations to shape its comprehensive plan, a plan that lays out a community’s development goals and the necessary steps to get there.

“While we never know exactly the challenges that may arise in the future, I am confident our Village is on a path to becoming resilient to climate-related threats by informing and equipping ourselves for action and re-committing to looking out for each other and the community we call home,” Mayor Lynne Ruda wrote in the report.

Lancaster recently began work on its new comprehensive plan, in conjunction with Depew, Stypa said. The process takes about a year.

“Now that we have the recommendations, were reviewing much more closely to see what are the most urgent needs for our residents and what resources we have immediately available to move forward with those recommendations,” Stypa said.

Eight months after it was awarded the money, Buffalo has not yet made public a plan for planting trees or asked its Common Council to approve how it will spend the money, let alone thrust a shovel into the ground.

For example, the village plans to use two grants, one from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and one from the state Department of Environmental Conservation, to plant more trees in Lancaster, Stypa said.

A key piece of the village achieving its sustainability goals involves getting the public on board, Stypa said. One of her priorities is increasing resident preparedness through educational outreach.

As part of developing the Climate Resilience Plan, the village sent out a community survey. The climate hazards identified as the community’s greatest concerns include severe winter weather (snow, ice, extreme cold), extreme heat, severe winds and flooding, according to the report.

Of the 120 residents who responded to the survey, just 30% felt their household is very well prepared for a day or more without heat or electricity. Nine percent said they do not feel prepared at all.

But many Lancaster residents have already felt the impacts of climate change, as 41% reported their homes or businesses have been damaged by climate hazards, such as flooded basements and damaged roofs.

“A key piece of this report is that it’s local,” Stypa said. “So many resilience plans are when talking about climate change adaptation, mitigation, water plans and recommendations are at the state or national, even international, levels, which can make them seem a little bit out of reach to an average resident. This report is highlighting climate hazards that will happen and are already happening in Lancaster.”

As a bronze-certified Climate Smart Community, Lancaster has been working since 2016 to build a more sustainable village. In the past, the village has converted indoor and street lights to LED, upgraded to high-efficiency boilers and built more biking and walking paths as part of its West Main Street renovation.

There are 13 stops on Transit Road, 12 on Broadway, one on Aurora Street and two on Pleasant Avenue.

Other certified Climate Smart Communities in Western New York include Erie County, Buffalo, Williamsville, Grand Island, North Tonawanda, Hamburg, Aurora, Evans and Porter.

Stypa, a Lancaster native, relocated from Panama in December to work for the village on a two-year grant funded by the state Climate Smart Communities program. She has a master’s degree in climate and society from Columbia University.

During her tenure with the village, Stypa will conduct a community greenhouse gas inventory and create a climate action plan. She will help the village reach its goal of becoming a silver-certified Climate Smart Community.