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RI Coastal Resources Management Council

...to preserve, protect, develop, and restore coastal resources for all Rhode Islanders

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, Johnson & Wales University Urban Coastal Greenway

July 25, 2011, PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Johnson & Wales University will be holding a ribbon cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, July 26, to announce the formal opening of the Johnson & Wales University Urban Coastal Greenway. This 1,500-foot linear park/walkway will provide public access to Narragansett Bay on JWU’s Harborside Campus, located adjacent to Save the Bay Drive.

JWU Chancellor John Bowen and R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council Executive Director Grover Fugate, as well as other university officials, will celebrate the opening of the urban coastal greenway. Invited to attend the morning ceremony are Governor Lincoln Chafee, who as U.S. Senator was instrumental in JWU receiving federal funding to remediate the land comprising the Harborside Campus; the entire Rhode Island congressional delegation; Curt Spalding, EPA Regional Administrator for New England and former executive director at Save The Bay; and other CRMC officials.

About the Urban Coastal Greenway Policy

The Urban Coastal Greenway (UCG) Policy – developed by the CRMC as a major component of its Metro Bay Special Area Management Plan (SAMP) – is an inventive 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 UCG is to provide a mechanism to redevelop the urban waterfront of the Metro Bay region in a way 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, as part of the CRMC’s revision of its statewide coastal development and buffer regulations for the cities of Cranston, East Providence, Pawtucket, and Providence – cities encompassed in the Metro Bay SAMP, is considered by NOAA to be the most advanced urban waterfront planning tool in the nation.
The UCG Policy, created with the assistance of R.I. Sea Grant, allows more flexibility in buffer widths than the standard policy along the already-developed upper Bay shoreline in return for compensation such as public access or habitat conservation. One of the many unique components of the policy is its zones, in which different restrictions apply to sections of the shoreline based on environmental characteristics. The CRMC has changed its regulations to maximize protection of zones where the highest quality vegetation and habitat exist.
At its core, the UCG Policy was designed to protect vegetation that still lines the shore in many places in the urban upper Bay, and to create in it a path that would provide points of access to the water. The policy has been remarkably successful. Since its adoption as a formal policy in October 2006, the Council has permitted approximately 7,050 linear feet of UCG public access within the SAMP area.

The policy includes regulations for stormwater management and sustainable landscaping. In Rhode Island, nonpoint source pollution is the largest pollution source for pathogens and nitrogen. Low-impact development, incorporated in the policy, is one of the only methods that has shown promise in treating it. Sustainable landscaping is increasingly important as well because climate change will stress an already stressed water supply. Alternative methods of landscaping will be invaluable.
Examples of existing Urban Coastal Greenways, in addition to the newly opened greenway at Johnson & Wales University in Providence at its Harborside Campus, can be found at the American Locomotive Works site in Providence along the Woonasquatucket River, as well as the Tockwotton Home in East Providence, along the Seekonk River.

“The CRMC would like to congratulate Johnson & Wales for its new UCG,” said Grover Fugate, CRMC executive director. “The university has worked long and hard on opening this stretch of public access for all Rhode Islanders, and the CRMC is proud to list it among other UCGs as part of the policy and Metro Bay SAMP.”

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A view of the 1,500-foot linear park and walkway, a UCG designated under CRMC’s program.

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CRMC Executive Director Grover Fugate speaks at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

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Officials cut the ribbon, signaling the official opening of the Johnson & Wales UCG. From left to right are: Terry Gray, RI DEM, Grover Fugate, CRMC, JWU Chancellor John Bowen, Merlin DeConti, JWU senior vice president of facilities management, and JWU President Mim L. Runey.

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