ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. — With the heat wave we've recently been experiencing, St. Louis Park is making an extra push for an environmental program they launched in the spring.
The 'Depave SLP' initiative encourages businesses and other commercial property owners to replace concrete or asphalt pavement with natural spaces. The city is offering financial incentives for property owners who do so.
Qualified property owners will receive partial reimbursement when they replace pavement with things like native plants, trees, rain gardens or pollinator habitats. City Sustainability Specialist Annie Pottorff says permeable pavers are another important option.
"Instead of your typical concrete or asphalt, where water collects on the surface, and then runs off into our wastewater systems, permeable pavers let any of that stormwater seep into the earth," Pottorff said. "
Reimbursement depends on where you're depaving. People who 'depave' in a zone that the city has designated an 'Environmental Justice priority area' are eligible for a greater amount of reimbursement. For example, if you remove pavement and plant a tree, you could be eligible up to $550 dollars if it's in a high-priority zone.
Pottorff says these actions can help reduce flood risk as well as cool the space for residents.
"We're all feeling this heat, but it's also felt unequally across our cities," she said. "So someone standing in a parking lot, someone waiting for a bus, will actually experience heat up to five times hotter than someone waiting, standing in a cool, shaded area."
To learn more about the rate of reimbursement and who qualifies, visit their site. You can file an application at this link.
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