The Providence City Council has the opportunity to prohibit future polluting industries from the Port

CLF is proposing that Providence adopt a Greater Port of Providence Overlay District that would prohibit a long list of polluting industries not restricted to fossil fuels...

At the October 2nd Providence City Council Ordinance Committee meeting Randall Rose, speaking on behalf of the Kennedy Plaza Resilience Coalition, noted that “Point N, Objective M1” from the proposed Comprehensive Plan seemed to endorse moving the bus hub away from Kennedy Plaza. In February, the Council’s Special Committee on Environment and Resiliency held public comment on RIPTA’s proposed hub relocation. In May, the Council unanimously passed a resolution “vehemently” opposing the proposed relocation of Kennedy Plaza. The resolution emphasized that the proposed relocation sites are substantially farther from downtown, posing a major inconvenience for the majority of daily riders.  In response, Councilor member Justin Roias (Ward 4) introduced an amendment to strike the language from the proposed Comprehensive Plan. The amendment was unanimously approved by the committee and is an important, symbolic victory for public transportation advocates.

“Public transit users have been loud and clear – the location of the bus hub matters,” said Councilmember Roias in a statement. “So many of our residents rely on Kennedy Plaza as a crucial drop-off point, and the language we’ve redacted would have jeopardized that. Rather than pouring money into a new, less desirable location, RIPTA should invest in making Kennedy Plaza clean, safe, modern, and sustainable.” 

“Our decision to redact this line is a reflection of many conversations we’ve had with daily RIPTA riders,” said Deputy Majority Whip Sue AnderBois (Ward 3). “The redacted line is deeply contradictory to what the RIPTA riders want. Major improvements to the bus hub should take place, but all improvements and changes in location should be based on riders’ needs and input - which means remaining at Kennedy Plaza. They have our support.”

It was in this context that I submitted my comments to the Ordinance Committee members.

“I was at the meeting for the ProvPort Master plan last week and one of the things that could be learned there was that ProvPort has agreed to not develop any new fossil fuel infrastructure within the area of the port that it controls. However, this does not apply to the port writ large. Any part of the port or the Allens Avenue area that ProvPort doesn't control is open to the expansion of fossil fuels and other dirty industries, and the comprehensive plan doesn't say anything about this.

“You could extend that ban on fossil fuel development throughout ProvPort and that entire area. You could also expand it to the rest of Providence. We don't need fossil fuels anymore. I made this point last time and I made the case that we can start thinking about no new fossil fuel development in Providence and be an early adopter of this. It's going to happen within the next 10 years anyway. We can be ahead of this. We can start to develop the port.

“ProvPort has already sworn off fossil fuels. They've started the process. They want to develop clean, new energy and don't want to be polluting anymore. I think Providence should set the path for doing this. It's a necessary thing to do. I don't know if you [Councilmember Roias] have an amendment ready to go to strike it out of the plan tonight, but it would be a great idea to get on top of this.”

I was not the only one with this idea. Richard Stang, representing the Conservation Law Foundation, (CLF)¹ had a much more formal proposal ready to go. You can read his proposed amendment at the footnote. CLF is proposing that Providence adopt a Greater Port of Providence Overlay District that would prohibit a long list of polluting industries not restricted to fossil fuels, but also prohibiting toxic chemical storage, scrap metal, road salt, waste facilities, and much more.

“The overlay district would be all around the greater port of Providence area, the industrial area in the port area, and it would prohibit 24 uses in that area,” said Stang. “The uses are lifted exactly from the Environmental Justice Act and Green Justice Zone Act legislation that did not pass [at the Rhode Island General Assembly] this year. So it's nothing new and in our mind, there's no reason not to go along with this. Unfortunately, this does not stop existing uses there, but it does stop any expansion [of existing polluting industries] and hopefully, we'll avoid other uses coming into this area as well.”

I reached out to CLF for more on this and received the following statement from Darrèll Brown, Vice President of CLF RI.

“A comprehensive plan that maintains the status quo and fails to stop businesses in the Greater Port of Providence Area from polluting with impunity is a waste of everyone’s time. Families in and around the Greater Port of Providence Area are already burdened by dirty fossil fuel pollution. We have collaborated with these residents, and they have made their voices clear that they want to breathe fresh air, drink clean water, and put down roots in a healthy community. The Providence City Council must pass a plan that includes the creation of a Greater Port of Providence Overlay District to ensure families in the area have the healthy community they deserve.”

The Providence City Council announced an additional public hearing on the proposed Comprehensive Plan for Wednesday, October 9th at 5:30 pm where Councilmembers will have the opportunity to introduce further amendments.

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1. CLF Proposed Changes to the Draft Providence Comprehensive Plan (“Plan”)

September 30, 2024

Creation of Greater Port of Providence Overlay District

1. Add the following language before the Growth Strategy Map on page 68 of the Plan:

   1. “Greater Port of Providence Overlay District:  The Greater Port of Providence Overlay District will apply to the “Waterfront/Port” area designated on the “Future Land Use Map” of the Plan; the “Waterfront/Mixed Use” area designated on the Future Land Use Map and located immediately adjacent to the above-referenced Waterfront/Port area; and the “Business/Industrial” area designated on the Future Land Use Map and located immediately adjacent to the above-referenced Waterfront/Port area.  The following commercial uses shall be strictly prohibited in the Greater Port of Providence Overlay District:

      1. an electric power plant or electric generating facility that produces electricity by combusting any fossil fuel, biomass, or solid waste;

      2. a waste storage facility;

      3. a toxic material storage facility;

      4. a fossil fuel storage facility, excluding gas stations that sell gas only at the retail level for use in automobiles and excluding sites that store fossil fuels that are used exclusively for transporting goods or other items into the Port of Providence or out of the Port of Providence;

      5. a fossil fuel production facility;

      6. a fossil fuel refinery;

      7. a chemical manufacturing facility;

      8. a chemical storage facility;

      9. a scrap metal storage facility;

      10. a scrap metal processing facility;

      11. a scrap metal recycling facility;

      12. a wood recycling facility;

      13. a cement, concrete, or asphalt storage facility;

      14. a cement, concrete, or asphalt processing facility;

      15. a cement, concrete, or asphalt production facility;

      16. an incinerator, including, but not limited to, a medical waste incinerator, resource recovery incinerator; or sludge combustion incinerator;

      17. a resource recovery facility, advanced recycling facility, or anaerobic digesting facility;

      18. a combustor;

      19. a transfer station or other solid waste facility;

      20. a landfill, including, but not limited to, a landfill that accepts ash, construction debris, demolition debris, or solid waste;

      21. a pyrolysis or gasification facility;

      22. an auto salvage operation and/or facility;

      23. an ethylene oxide manufacturing and/or storage facility; and

      24. a road salt storage and processing facility.”

2. The “Growth Strategy Map” and “Legend” on page 68 of the Plan should be amended to reflect the Greater Port of Providence Overlay District. 

3. The “Future Land Use Map” and “Legend” on page 73 of the Plan should be amended to reflect the Greater Port of Providence Overlay District.

4. The second to last line on page 80 of the Plan should be amended to read: “The proposed Overlay Zoning Map contains properties proposed for inclusion in historic districts and the properties to be included in the new Greater Port of Providence Overlay District.”

5. The “Overlay Zoning Map Changes” and “Legend” on page 84 of the Plan should be amended to reflect the new Greater Port of Providence Overlay District.

6. The “Proposed Overlay Zoning Map” and “Legend” on page 87 of the Plan should be amended to reflect the new Greater Port of Providence Overlay District.