The Providence City Council's proposed changes to the Comprehensive Plan are "visionary" and historic

"These amendments take bold steps to increase affordable housing; protect the health, safety, and well-being of the community; and safeguard the character and affordability of our neighborhoods..."

From a Providence City Council press release:

Today, Providence City Council leadership announced a slate of proposed amendments to the Comprehensive Plan, the urban planning document that will guide the city’s development for the next decade. These proposed changes address key policy areas, including increasing housing stock, expanding affordability, preventing displacement, preserving the character of our neighborhoods, protecting our environment, promoting traffic safety, supporting local businesses, and more. If approved, the amended version of the Comprehensive Plan will lay the groundwork for a subsequent Zoning Ordinance to deliver transformative, long-term solutions for the people of Providence.

“Our communities have been clear about their needs, and we’ve listened – now, through this amendments package, we’re taking action,” said Majority Leader and Committee on Ordinances Chair Pedro Espinal (Ward 10). “What we’ve put forth today is a set of people-first provisions that speak to the urgent challenges our residents face. These amendments take bold steps to increase affordable housing; protect the health, safety, and well-being of the community; and safeguard the character and affordability of our neighborhoods. We’re deeply grateful to each person who has spoken at a public hearing, attended a community meeting, or submitted written testimony – this wouldn’t have been possible without your crucial input.”

Amendments to the Comprehensive Plan are required to be made in a public hearing. Community feedback on proposed amendments was welcomed at Wednesday night’s public hearing in the Council Chambers at City Hall and at the hearing’s continuation on October 16th at 5:30 pm. While being made public today, the full amendments package is expected to be formally introduced on October 16th.

Below are key highlights from the Council’s amendments package.

Stronger Language to Reduce or Eliminate Parking Minimums

To make way for increases in housing stock, Council President Rachel Miller (Ward 13) will introduce strengthened language to prioritize the lowering and elimination of parking minimums. This language, as reflected in Objectives in LU2 and LU12 in the Land Use Chapter, will create a pathway for the Council to eliminate or reduce parking minimums by zone in the upcoming Zoning Ordinance.

Required parking minimums, as they currently exist, drive up housing costs, underutilize valuable parcels of land, and deter developers from building housing. This is especially true when it comes to affordable housing, as developers are disproportionately impacted by noncompliance fees, while already lacking a profit incentive to build.

Removing this outdated requirement where possible is crucial to effectively expanding affordable housing stock. This pathway to reduce or eliminate them will remove barriers to housing development while encouraging residents to explore alternative modes of transportation.

This step reaffirms the Council’s dual commitments to expanding affordable housing and promoting climate-conscious transportation options.

Introducing Inclusionary Zoning and Anti-Displacement Strategies

City Council remains committed to ensuring Providence residents can stay in their neighborhoods without being priced out. To increase the affordable housing supply and prevent displacement, Council President Rachel Miller will seek to amend sections of Housing and Land Use Chapters to include language that opens the doors to inclusionary zoning when the Zoning Ordinance is put together.

In the Housing Chapter, under Objective H2, Councilors will introduce language calling for the implementation of inclusionary zoning with financial subsidies that make it feasible, as well as stronger tenant protections for renters who are most vulnerable to displacement. Councilors also propose adding inclusionary zoning to the Land Use Chapter under Objective LU3. The Council will seek to utilize inclusionary zoning, with accompanying tax stabilization agreements and other subsidies, to require developments set aside affordable units. A strategy used by hundreds of cities across the country, inclusionary zoning increases the availability of affordable housing, promotes mixed-income communities, and helps combat gentrification.

Councilors will also introduce language seeking collaboration with Community Development Corporations to analyze displacement risk across the city. A full analysis will allow the city to more effectively prioritize at-risk neighborhoods for new affordable housing development. These measures lay the groundwork for the city to take a forward-thinking, people-first approach to expanding housing supply.

Protecting the Providence Port from Heavy Polluters

For generations, the area in and around Providence’s port has been used as a de facto dumping ground by heavy industry, endangering the health, safety, and well-being of South Side residents. On top of negatively impacting some of the city’s most economically disadvantaged communities, this approach has also stymied efforts to reduce the city’s fossil fuel emissions.

To prioritize clean, sustainable, and resilient economic development bordering city waterways, Majority Leader Espinal will introduce new protections to prohibit any new heavy polluters from operating in and around the Port/Maritime Industrial District. This amendment prohibits specific types of new commercial activity in M2 and W3 zones, including fossil fuel facilities, chemical manufacturing, power plants, incinerators, and waste storage. The exhaustive list of prohibited commercial uses can be found on page 71 of the amendments package.

Safeguarding the Dignity, Health, and Rights of Unhoused Residents

Councilors will add language to the Housing Chapter, under Objective H3, safeguarding the rights and dignity of unhoused individuals. These changes set a standard for addressing homelessness that pushes back against punitive measures and advocates for humane solutions to homelessness.

Majority Whip Miguel Sanchez (Ward 6) will introduce a clause that ensures that current and future city policies addressing homelessness and homeless encampments follow the guidelines outlined by the United States Interagency on Homelessness. Informed by public health best practices and successful strategies implemented across the country, this language empowers the City Council and administration to work collaboratively to address homelessness effectively and humanely.

Councilor Sanchez will propose a framework to formally sanction temporary homeless encampments in non-residential areas to improve the safety and public health of unhoused residents. Given the Supreme Court’s recent ruling that allows the criminalization of homelessness, the city must support the dignity, health, and rights of unhoused residents and advocate for their basic needs.

Establishing a Committee on Neighborhood Design Standards

As the Council continues to prioritize increasing the housing stock, Councilwoman Helen Anthony (Ward 2) will introduce amendments encouraging new housing to reflect the character and aesthetic of every Providence neighborhood. In the Land Use chapter of the Comprehensive Plan, Objective LU9 items C, F, and G present a plan for developing, reviewing, and enforcing design standards that would ensure new developments enhance rather than disrupt the communities they enter.

The amendments specify that the cost or timeline for new developments should not be negatively affected by any new process. New standards would be reviewed by an advisory committee comprised of community stakeholders, developers, architects, and designers. The committee would offer valuable perspectives in the process of developing design regulations. The work of this committee will ensure that new housing developments help shape the landscape of our communities for years to come.

Prohibiting New Gas Stations Citywide

In a historic move, Senior Deputy Majority Leader John Goncalves (Ward 1) will introduce a citywide prohibition of any new gas stations. This amendment alters language in the Mobility Chapter under Objective M5, replacing “discourage” with “prohibit.”

As Providence seeks to move towards the use of hybrid and electric vehicles and improved public transit in the next decade, new gas stations would run contrary to the city’s climate goals. Providence and surrounding towns have abundant gas stations, and this prohibition will ensure that available lots will be put to better use, such as for housing or green energy infrastructure like charging stations.

Other municipalities have enacted similar prohibitions through zoning laws; however, Providence would be the first city on the East Coast to do so. If approved, this policy will position Providence as a national leader in municipal climate efforts.

This groundbreaking measure demonstrates the Council’s commitment to expanding green infrastructure and reducing reliance on fossil fuels. The prohibition would be enacted through a subsequent Zoning Ordinance.

Working Towards Zero Carbon Emissions

The complexity of the climate crisis demands a multi-layered, creative, and robust series of proposals that will drive the city forward to meet its zero carbon emissions goals. Many of the amendments to the Comprehensive Plan put forth by the Council, in large part at the initiative of Deputy Majority Whip Sue AnderBois (Ward 3), are effectively dual purpose in nature – addressing a specific, targeted need while also helping reduce or address fossil fuel emissions. This includes:

• The prohibition of heavy polluters from operating in and around the Port/Maritime Industrial District (In “How Do We Grow?” in the Land Use Chapter);

• The abolition of parking minimums for new development (LU2 and LU12 in the Land Use Chapter);

• A citywide Prohibition of New Gas Stations (M5-K in the Mobility chapter);

• Cross-agency support for Providence Tree Plan, a vision and strategic pathway to build a healthy, just, and resilient urban forest in Providence (Objective SRE2);

• The expansion and facilitation of non-carbon fuels and prioritization and development of non-car transportation options (Objective SRE2);

• The Enforcement of anti-idling regulations and other existing regulations (Objective SRE4);

• Efforts to make all municipal buildings carbon neutral by 2040 (Objective SRE4);

• Municipal adoption of environmentally conscious procurement practices Objective SRE7); and

• Language changes throughout the Comprehensive Plan to increase the urgency for and rapidness of change.

Throughout the amendments package, the Council effectively balances the immediate needs of its constituents while encouraging sustainable growth and development.

The redlined version of the Comprehensive Plan can be found in full here.

Video of the Ordinance Committee Meeting where these changes were submitted can be seen here: