...to preserve, protect, develop, and restore coastal resources for all Rhode Islanders
CRMC to hold UCG public workshop
May 19, 2006, WAKEFIELD—The Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council will be holding a public workshop on its new Urban Coastal Greenway (UCG) regulatory program, which it is currently developing, on Monday, May 22, beginning at 4 p.m. at East Providence City Hall.
This workshop, which will be an agenda item on the Council’s Planning and Procedures subcommittee meeting on this day, will provide a forum for the public to comment and provide feedback and suggestions for the UCG policy.
The UCG is a major component of the Metro Bay Special Area Management Plan, which the CRMC is currently updating. This policy focuses on the Metro Bay Region, which comprises the shorelines of the cities of Cranston, East Providence, Pawtucket, and Providence. The UCG is a new regulatory approach for coastal vegetative buffers in the urbanized environment of northern Narragansett Bay, and is intended for projects bordering the Providence, Seekonk, Moshassuck, and Woonasquatucket Rivers. The purpose of the proposed Urban Coastal Greenways program is to provide a mechanism to redevelop the urban waterfront of the Metro Bay Region in a manner that integrates economic development with expanded public access along and to the shoreline, as well as the management, protection, and restoration of valuable coastal habitats.
The UCG is intended to provide a permitting option that clarifies and streamlines the regulatory process for urban coastal development, and to create greater flexibility in meeting the state and federal requirements of the Coastal Resources Management Program. The UCG therefore establishes specific standards regarding overall vegetation of the site, management of stormwater runoff, and public access along and to the shoreline within the Metro Bay Region. Copies of the UCG program are available from the Coastal Resources Management Council offices and its website – www.crmc.ri.gov.