{"id":207,"date":"2009-04-06T17:52:18","date_gmt":"2009-04-06T21:52:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/providenceworkingwaterfront.org\/index.php\/2009\/04\/06\/pbn-editorial-rezone-by-all-means-just-do-it-right\/"},"modified":"2018-12-18T14:33:24","modified_gmt":"2018-12-18T18:33:24","slug":"pbn-editorial-rezone-by-all-means-just-do-it-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/providenceworkingwaterfront.org\/index.php\/2009\/04\/06\/pbn-editorial-rezone-by-all-means-just-do-it-right\/","title":{"rendered":"PBN Editorial: Rezone by all means, just do it right"},"content":{"rendered":"

This week’s Providence Business News<\/em> has an excellent editorial<\/a> noting the need to protect the Port of Providence’s working waterfront, first and foremost, for jobs:<\/p>\n

It is unfortunate that it has taken the severe contraction of Rhode Island\u2019s economy to generate momentum for alternative uses for the state\u2019s industrial waterfront. But it is about time!<\/em><\/p>\n

Narragansett Bay is an extraordinary, natural economic resource, in the same league as Puget Sound, Chesapeake Bay and the San Francisco Bay. The state\u2019s maritime history dating back to Colonial times gives testament to the bay\u2019s importance in the state\u2019s economic development.<\/em><\/p>\n

But that development has been stymied of late. Providence\u2019s port is a patchwork of vibrant industrial businesses beside empty lots. The city wants to remedy the situation. However, two questions loom large: Where will the money come from, and whose vision will be realized?<\/em><\/p>\n

Some private developers see the waterfront as prime for mixed-use development, giving more people access to the shoreline for work, play and living. But existing businesses believe such land use is incompatible with their industrial zoning. They also make a strong case that the city needs more jobs, not more waterfront housing.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

A special commission of the General Assembly considering those issues has begun the process with a bus tour of the port of Providence, and plans visits to Davisville and Galilee.<\/em><\/p>\n

We hope they recognize the importance of a disciplined approach to development that recognizes the city\u2019s waterfront\u2019s most vital role is as an economic engine for the region, not as a playground.<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Providence Working Waterfront Alliance recently commissioned the planning specialists at the Horsley Witten Group<\/a> to develop planning and zoning recommendations to both preserve existing waterfront jobs AND provide a flexible platform for future economic growth.\u00a0 Read the Horsley Witten Group’s report<\/a>, which calls for the creation of \u201cWaterfront Mixed Use\/Industrial\u201d zoning that prohibits residential and hotel uses, but maintains flexibility by encouraging the establishment of criteria for the inclusion of lower intensity non-residential uses such as commercial office space.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week’s Providence Business News has an excellent editorial noting the need to protect the Port of Providence’s working waterfront, first and foremost, for jobs: It is unfortunate that it has taken the severe contraction of Rhode Island\u2019s economy to generate momentum for alternative uses for the state\u2019s industrial waterfront. But it is about time! […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/providenceworkingwaterfront.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/providenceworkingwaterfront.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/providenceworkingwaterfront.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/providenceworkingwaterfront.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/providenceworkingwaterfront.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/providenceworkingwaterfront.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/providenceworkingwaterfront.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/providenceworkingwaterfront.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/providenceworkingwaterfront.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}