Danville’s planning commission will consider adoption of a citywide environmental stewardship plan, the result of a partnership with George Mason University, at its regular meeting at 2 p.m. Monday. The plan involves tracking energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions and creating a public task force. 

The city of Danville began working with GMU during the summer of 2023 to develop an environmental stewardship plan.

“An environmental stewardship plan examines the sources of a municipality’s energy consumption and seeks to reduce this consumption, and in turn, reduce emissions of greenhouse gases,” according to the plan document in the agenda packet for this meeting. 

The plan’s executive summary says the city wanted to develop a stewardship plan for four main reasons: 

• To address higher energy costs for residents
• Prepare for the effects of a changing environment, like increased flooding, precipitation and heat conditions
• To reduce the region’s reliance on outside energy resources
• To qualify for state and federal funding to shift from costly energy sources to more efficient and clean energy sources. These funding opportunities often require local governments to establish stewardship plans to be eligible.

“To date, larger urban areas have taken advantage of these funds, but more rural areas in Virginia must also avail themselves of the benefits of these funds,” the plan says.

The city wants to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030, from the amount measured in 2005. It also has a longer-term goal to reach carbon neutrality, or a net-zero carbon impact, by 2050. 

Most of Danville’s energy consumption today comes from residential and commercial energy, as well as transportation. 

The plan suggests strategies for transportation, buildings, electricity, land use, water and wastewater, partnerships and organizational structure that will help the city meet its environmental goals. 

For example, the plan suggests that Danville retrofit at least 100 residential housing units with energy efficiency improvements and convert fossil fuel residential building systems, like water heaters, to more efficient electric options like heat pumps. 

It also suggests that the city work with solar developers to inventory public buildings for solar potential and look to other localities for best practices on solar management. 

The planning commission will hear a presentation about the plan, which was developed over the course of a year by city employees alongside GMU faculty and students. 

City staff suggests that the planning commission recommend approval for this document. 

If approved, the environmental stewardship plan will be adopted as an appendix to the city’s comprehensive plan. 

The planning commission will also consider several rezoning applications and a proposal to transform the former W. Townes Lea Elementary School, which closed in 2012, into 31 residential apartments. 

Also this week, the Danville-Pittsylvania Regional Industrial Facility Authority will meet at noon Monday. Both the city Industrial Development Authority and the Airside Development Review Committee will hold their regular meetings at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday. The airport commission will meet at 3 p.m. Tuesday. The River District design commission meeting on Thursday has been canceled. 

There are no meetings in Pittsylvania County this week.