Special Section

Writing a New Chapter on Health

addition to planning document will encourage active living for Eau Clairians

Tom Giffey |

The phrase “public health” evokes images of vaccination clinics, infectious disease outbreaks and giant health care programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. But is also should cause us to consider topics such as pedestrian pathways, bike trails, and community gardens. At least that’s the philosophy behind a forthcoming chapter about health that will be added to the city of Eau Claire’s Comprehensive Plan.

Comprehensive plans are weighty tomes that typically address bread-and-butter municipal issues such as land use, transportation, and utilities – not health.

“It’s uncharted territory for us,” acknowledges Ned Noel, an associate planner with the city who is writing the health chapter.

Yet when you consider the connections between our “built environment” (think: buildings, roads, sidewalks, and trails) and our personal well-being, the relationships become obvious.

“If our communities are more walkable, people are going to be more healthy,” Noel offered as an example. “All of these things kind of interconnect.”

The interconnection are both figurative and literal: Among the many suggestions in the forthcoming document is to improve the physical links – trail corridors and bike lanes – between neighborhoods and parks as a way of encouraging residents to get more physical activity.

The creation of the health chapter was inspired by the work of a group called ACHIEVE Eau Claire, which was formed with a federal grant in 2010 to promote healthy living. ACHIEVE – the name is an acronym for “Action Communities for Health Innovation and EnVironmental ChangE” – is a partnership between the Eau Claire YMCA, the city Parks Department, the City/County Health Department, hospitals, and a host of others, and it assessed nutrition, physical activity, tobacco use, and other health topics in the community.

Another ad hoc committee composed of representatives of a broad section of the community, from neighborhood associations to health care providers to architectural firms, began meeting in September to held shape the forthcoming health chapter. In early February, the City Plan Commission will review the document, and later a public hearing will be held.

A draft version of the health chapter, which was released Jan. 25, is chock full of intriguing ideas on how to improve the community’s health in five categories:

Active Living

• Strengthen support for existing park programs and further develop Northwest and Otter Creek community parks, Pinehurst Park, and the Jeffers Road Athletic Fields.

• Consider the consequences of cuts or changes to parks and recreation programs, particularly those in low-income neighborhoods where access to physical activities can be scarce.

• Assess the walkability of new developments by using tools such as the Walk Score website (www.redfin.com/how-walk-score-works). City planners should consider using a five-minute walking radius – i.e., about a quarter mile – as a rule of thumb when considering developments.

• Encourage the construction of sidewalks in industrial and commercial areas, both for pedestrians and to promote physical activity by employees.

• Make streets more livable when they are rebuilt by adding curb extensions, raised crosswalks, median islands, bike lanes, and elements to slow vehicle traffic, such as curved pavement markings, decorative light poles, and boulders.

• Work with the school district to create a Safe Routes to School Master Plan to encourage kids to walk to school as a way to combat childhood obesity.

• Identify measurable goals that can demonstrate that the health of the community is improving. For example, Noel said, the goals could include an increase in the percentage of people in the city who commute via foot, bike, or bus.

Food & Nutrition

• Because community gardens promote physical activity, nutrition, and sustainability, encourage their creation in every city neighborhood.

• Ensure all city residents have access to fresh food. In some neighborhoods, particularly low-income areas, it’s difficult to get to a grocery store. Under U.S. Department of Agriculture standards, part of the North Side Hill and North River Fronts neighborhoods – the area around Birch Street and Mt. Simon Park – is classified as a “food desert.”

• Foster a year-round farmers market, perhaps in the West Bank Redevelopment District on the west side of the Chippewa River, across from downtown.

• Address the high prevalence of fast-food restaurants in the community. According to state data, Eau Claire County has the highest density of fast-food outlets in the state.

• Consider allowing urban agriculture – such as farming and domestic fowl – in the city while controlling possible nuisances.

Land Use

• Continue to encourage compact, mixed-use urban development.

• Use “Complete Street” principles when building new streets or rebuilding old ones. (“Complete Streets” are designed with all users – including motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians – in mind.)

• Encourage “aging in place” to allow older people to stay in their homes. This could be achieved through changes in zoning laws to allow more “granny flats” – i.e., small dwellings for older folks attached to existing homes.

• Considering strengthening building codes to improve health, such as by abating lead and asbestos, addressing radon and secondhand smoke, and limiting other indoor pollutants.

Saftey & Crime

• Adopt so-called Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design principles. These guidelines encourage things like improving lighting, eliminating hiding places, and installing speed bumps to boost safety.

• Take more measures to prepare for the “unthinkable” – such as terrorism and mass shootings – by securing doors, keeping vehicles away from building entrances, and the like.

• Boost enforcement in areas where drivers often speed and disobey traffic laws.

Drug Use

• Research the relationship between establishments that sell alcohol and criminal activity. (Eau Claire County is ranked as one of the worst in the state for excessive drinking.)

• Provide more access to safe rides home for those who drink alcohol.

• Consider prohibiting tobacco use in city parks and multifamily dwellings.

Environmental Exposures

• Complete and implement a plan to address natural hazards such as tornadoes, droughts, blizzards, floods, and health pandemics, and also consider a plan to address the impact of climate change.

• Require a health impact assessment when considering new heavy industrial development, such as sand loading or processing plants.
• Develop noise pollution standards. Under the current city noise ordinance, there’s no way to file a complaint when noise is causing a public nuisance.

Noel, the associate city planner, said the city’s desire to make public health considerations part of public planning is uncommon for a municipality.

“This is unique in the sense that it’s specific to the built environment and health, coming at it from the idea of active living,” he says.

To learn more about the proposed health chapter of the Eau Claire Comprehensive Plan, go to tinyurl.com/healthchapter. The Eau Claire Plan Commission will review a draft version of the health chapter at its meeting at 7 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 4, in the City Council Chamber at Eau Claire City Hall, 203 S. Farwell St. There will be a public hearing on the document at a future Plan Commission meeting.