CRMC approves UCG project

PROVIDENCE, November 23, 2011 – The R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) recently approved Chevron U.S.A.’s “Village on the Waterfront,” the fifth project to be developed under the CRMC’s Urban Coastal Greenway (UCG) Policy..

The Council approved the 26-acre upland site at the November 8 meeting. The project will be a mixed-use (commercial and residential) development west of Veterans Memorial Parkway in East Providence and along the Providence River. Modeled on a “traditional New England-style waterfront village,” according to Chevron, the project will include retail space and approximately 600 condominium units, as well as townhouses and apartments. As part of the UCG, it will also feature public amenities including a bike path to connect to the existing East Bay Bike Path maintained by the state, a public access pier and canoe and kayak launch ramp. The work is to be completed over five phases.

Prior to this, the property had been used for industrial purposes for almost 100 years, and at least 27 petroleum storage tanks were present on the site (and removed in the late 1980s and early 1990s). The site is considered a Brownfield.

Examples of existing Urban Coastal Greenways, in addition to a recently 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 Village on the Waterfront project is an excellent example of the UCG Policy and everything it aims to accomplish,” said CRMC Executive Director Grover Fugate. “Chevron has complied with the program to the letter with their plans for urban waterfront revitalization and, as a result, the people of East Providence and the state will enjoy public access along the river, as well as housing and economic resources.”

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.