CRMC Success Story: 195 Commission redevelopment

November 14, 2013, PROVIDENCE – In another great example of its flexibility in permitting, the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) is providing generalized, pre-approved permits for the 21 separate parcels made available for redevelopment by the relocation of the I-195 overpass.

The I-195 Redevelopment District Stormwater Master Plan has been submitted to establish an overall stormwater permitting approval process framework for the redevelopment of the parcels located within the old Route I-195 right-of-way and under the jurisdiction of the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission. The project is subject to state stormwater regulatory permitting implemented by the CRMC for parcels within its coastal jurisdiction and Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) through its Water Quality Certification program. In addition, the proposed redevelopment project is subject to the DEM-administered RIPDES general permit for stormwater discharge associated with construction activity.

A project team including CRMC, DEM, the Narragansett Bay Commission, and the City of Providence met with the Commission Chair Colin Kane last year, and laid out a framework for a streamlined permitting process for the parcels, which collectively also represent a Brownfield site. The CRMC and DEM suggested using a master plan approach to manage stormwater runoff for the redevelopment parcels, designed to provide a coordinated, predictable permitting process to assist the commission in the marketing and selling of the parcels. The Stormwater Master Plan establishes an orderly process for CRMC and DEM in their review and permitting of District projects as they come forward over a period of time.

The CRMC generalized permits require the Council to approve the Stormwater Master Plan for the 41.4 acres (21 parcels), with three parcels designated as parks.  They also approve the master plan elements pertaining to the CRMC’s Urban Coastal Greenways policy within the Metro Bay Special Area Management Plan, which calls for Low-Impact Development (LID) for stormwater and a 15 percent vegetative cover requirement. The CRMC has waived the 15 percent requirement, considering it satisfied by the three park parcels.

The entire district will have draft assents from the CRMC – a first for the coastal agency – as well as water quality certifications for stormwater from DEM.

“There will be no fee, no review of what’s on the parcel (in terms of redevelopment) – only a review to verify compliance with the stormwater manual,” said James Boyd, CRMC coastal resource specialist and CRMC’s representative on the project team. “It provides tremendous flexibility for stormwater management and allows developers to be creative.”

At its November semi-monthly meeting, the Council voted unanimously to approve the Stormwater Master Plan, giving the green light to issuing the permits.

“This has been a two-year labor,” said Kane. “To take what would have been an 18-24-month period and condense that [is an accomplishment]. We’re here to recognize the professionals at CRMC, and also our partners at DEM and NBC. This will be the first joint master permit issued in the state by CRMC and DEM. I think we serve collectively as a model for cooperation, and it will be a model as we bring things online in 2014. We have a profoundly valuable offering to an international marketplace. Quonset really set the bar with this.”

The difference between the general permitting by CRMC for the Quonset Development Corporation, Kane said, was the amount of available space. Where Quonset had the space to design stormwater management anywhere, the 195 District is much more restrained in terms of available space for stormwater management, necessitating LID and other creative practices. For more information on the Rhode Island Stormwater Manual and CRMC stormwater regulations, go to http://www.crmc.ri.gov/stormwater.html.