The City of Deerfield Beach was recently selected as one of 32 communities nationwide – and the ONLY city in Florida – to receive U.S. EPA assistance to help develop ideas for improving the local economy in a sustainable manner. The opportunity is made possible by the Sustainable Communities Building Blocks program, a joint effort of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to coordinate actions on the issues of housing, transportation, and environmental protection as they impact local communities.

On June 23 and 24, experts from the U.S. EPA will be in Deerfield Beach to assist us in evaluating our city’s own challenges in these areas. There will be two opportunities for the public to attend these sessions. On Thursday, June 23 at 7 PM, there will be a kick-off event at the Wyndham Deerfield Beach Resort, where a presentation on Smart Growth strategies by EPA experts will be followed by a CRA-sponsored reception. Then, on June 24, from 8:30 AM – 5 PM, the EPA’s evaluation team will give a day-long presentation for government officials, residents, businesses, and all other Deerfield Beach stakeholders. The event will be held at the Research Park at FAU – Deerfield Beach, located at 1501 FAU Research Boulevard, just south of Fire Station 102.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson announced this month that Deerfield Beach is among 32 communities in 26 states that will receive assistance with tools that can help them get the type of development they want. The City of Deerfield Beach is the only community in Florida to be selected for this opportunity. Under the Sustainable Communities Building Blocks program, the selected communities will get help on a specific development-related challenge as well as explore general sustainable communities strategies. The City of Deerfield Beach requested assistance with an assessment of smart growth strategies, which can help the community become stronger economically and fiscally.”EPA has seen a demand for tools and resources to help communities strengthen their economies, protect human health and the environment, and create more housing and transportation choices at the local level,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “The Building Blocks program will bring in private-sector experts to train communities to use tools that have been applied successfully in other places, spreading our technical assistance program’s positive effect to our nation’s communities.” 

In consultation with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), EPA selected the 32 communities through a competitive process. Each community chose a specific, proven tool to be the focus of the assistance from a list that included zoning code reviews, walkability assessments, economic and fiscal health assessments, complete streets evaluations, water quality audits, and sustainable design guidelines. The City of Deerfield Beach will receive guidance in using smart growth to produce fiscal and economic health. At an upcoming day-long session with EPA-funded, private-sector experts, the city along with key stakeholders, will explore the selected tool, as well as other ways to make progress toward community goals for environmentally responsible, economically healthy development.

“In this economic climate, the city is looking for new ways to maintain services with a significantly smaller budget,” said Planning and Growth Management Director Gerald Ferguson. “This training will focus on how smart growth can stimulate private investment, provide fiscal stability in times of economic uncertainty, reduce the tax burden, and spur job creation.”

The Building Blocks program is part of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, a joint effort between EPA, HUD, and DOT to coordinate federal actions on housing, transportation, and environmental protection. This interagency collaboration’s primary goal is to invest federal funding more efficiently in infrastructure, facilities, and services that meet multiple economic, environmental, and community objectives.

Mayor Peggy Noland believes this assistance comes at an essential time for Deerfield Beach. “Across the board, we have to do more with less. This is an opportunity for city leaders to bring together stakeholders from both the private and public sectors, so that we can develop plans for our future.”

In addition to Deerfield Beach, the selected communities are Bemidji, Minnesota; Bluffton, South Carolina; Cambridge, Maryland; Chelmsford, Massachusetts; Dover, New Hampshire; Erie County, New York; Essex, Connecticut; Fitchburg, Wisconsin; Granville, Ohio; Helena, Montana; Hellertown, Pennsylvania; Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania; Kayenta Township, Arizona; Lincoln, Nebraska; McKinney, Texas; Muskegon, Michigan; Nashville/Davidson, Tennessee; Northampton, Massachusetts; Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Portland, Maine; St. Louis, Missouri; Pike’s Peak Council of Governments, Colorado; Ranson, West Virginia; Reedsburg, Wisconsin; Renton, Washington; Rockport, Texas; Shelburne, Vermont; Spencer, North Carolina; Syracuse, New York; and Wichita, Kansas.

EPA received 354 letters of interest requesting assistance through the Building Blocks program. This level of interest shows how many places around the country want to improve their development planning to spur economic development while safeguarding the environment and public health.

The workshop date for Deerfield Beach will be announced in the coming weeks.