Over 45 Providence residents gave testimony to the City Council criticizing and praising the draft Comprehensive Plan on Monday evening. Housing, density, transit, mobility, and preservation were chief concerns for many attendees, in addition to environmental justice and the fate of Kennedy Plaza.
While many attendees ardently supported upzoning throughout the city to increase Providence’s housing stock, others worried that reduced restrictions on density and residency maximums may alter the fabric of the city, incentivizing developers to indiscriminately build luxury housing or destroy historic buildings. Some advocated for a balance of development and preservation, and others urged further consideration of sustainability and how the city will reach its environmental goals with the Comprehensive Plan as a roadmap.
Density, Development & Housing
Overall, most residents recognized an urgent need for more housing, businesses, and development in the city. But there were differing opinions on what methods and measures are needed to get Providence on track.
Many folks advocated for a rapid and intentional increase in density across the city, emphasizing the need for new construction or adaptive reuse. Others feared a snowballing effect of too much change too fast, an influx of luxury apartments, or the potential displacement of longtime residents.
Much of the focus of the density conversation swirled around Wards 1 and 2, where many of the supporters and critics of proposed upzoning hailed from.
Providence is currently in a housing crisis, with inadequate options for those seeking housing and rents skyrocketing in recent years.
The West Broadway Neighborhood Association called for the construction of more low-income units in the city affordable to those making 30% of the area-median-income, more attention to the tree canopy, encouraging the development of smaller commercial units over bigger ones, and addressing “short-term rentals and student housing separately” in the Comp Plan.
“This is a supply and demand problem,” said Christian Roselund, a steering committee member for the Providence Urbanist Network. “We need more housing and every income model, the only way to fix this is to allow more density.”
Associate Director of Advocacy & Organizing for One Neighborhood Builders Lucy Berman spoke on behalf of Central Providence Opportunities, a collaborative of over 60 community-based organizations. She advocated for zoning reform “so we can be a city that develops deeply affordable housing without displacement. We’ve seen numerous other cities around the country do this that are releasing comprehensive plans that explicitly center racial equity,” she said.
“As it stands, this plan sees Providence falling behind. It does not acknowledge how the built environment perpetuates racial disparities and does not propose a plan of action to ameliorate and prevent harm to our communities of color,” Berman said.
One resident described the draft proposal as “a comprehensive and irreparable invitation to developers to build as much upscale housing” as they want.
But others saw the Comp Plan as positing solutions to the housing affordability crisis. “I’ll be priced out” without increasing the housing stock, said Paul Flynn, who rents in Providence. He said making housing more accessible is crucial for the cost of living for renters throughout the city.
“I know there’s tremendous pressure for development in the city, and the way that I can see that we achieve that happily as residents… is a lot of adaptive reuse and really strict design review,” said Liz Rollins Mauran, president of the Mile of History Association. She urged the Council to reinstate historic tax credits and focus on the heritage of the built environment.
Mauran added that the upzoning changes — like combining the Commercial 1 and Commercial 2 designations and eliminating R2, or two-family zoning designation — “allows too much flexibility.”
Zoe Mueller, a Ward 2 resident, praised the proposal’s increased density in her neighborhood and wished it went further, calling it “an incredibly sensible and long-overdue change.” She described how multi-unit structures “are equally as historic and equally as natural in that location.”
Wickenden Street in Fox Point has been a particular flashpoint in the discussion of increasing development throughout the city. The street has seen development proposals that some residents deem out of scale with the community.
Fox Point Neighborhood President Lily Bogosian has previously stated her opposition to the Comp Plan, saying that her “neighborhood is under assault.” During her testimony Monday evening, she emphasized concern about new developments pricing out local businesses and residents.
“Because over the past couple years, Wickenden Street has become the subject of many city planning meetings. Widespread opposition to development on Wickenden Street has been expressed by multiple neighborhood associations and their residences,” she said. Bogosian worried about the demolition of existing structures being replaced with six-story buildings under the Comp Plan’s suggested rezoning.
Ian Saxine, a resident of Wickenden Street, spoke in support of increasing density in the area. “I’m a resident of Fox Point on Wickenden Street. I’m a proud supporter of the Comprehensive Plan and… the Fox Point Neighborhood Association does not speak for me,” he said. “The character of our city, for almost 400 years, has been a place welcoming to refugees and strikers and immigrants and creatives. If you’re going to protect and continue the character of the city … broader housing supply is a necessary first step.”
Some residents called for the development of large-surface parking lots, emphasizing that it is underutilized space that could be developed without displacing existing residents or businesses.
Transit & Mobility
Public transportation was another major theme of the evening, with several residents calling on the Council to save Kennedy Plaza and improve the transit system. Others called for an elimination of parking minimums for new construction, a step the Comp Plan does not include.
Randall Rose spoke on behalf of the Kennedy Plaza Coalition to urge the maintenance of the bus hub, which was echoed by multiple other residents. “It’s ridiculous to move it and a waste of money,” said Greg Gerritt.
Diane Brandy, a Providence resident for roughly 55 years, spoke to the difficulty of relying on Providence’s public transit system as it currently stands. “I used to get everywhere I wanted to with my car. I no longer have a car. I no longer drive,” she said. And moving across the city has become a challenge.
Transit advocate and Lead Organizer for the Providence Streets Coalition Liza Burkin emphasized the need to “save RIPTA” and increase housing so that Providence can be a liveable, affordable, and enjoyable city.
Environmental Justice
Particularly for the neighborhoods near the Providence Port, environmental justice was discussed as what should be a pillar for the Comp Plan.
Several Washington Park residents stressed the issue of diesel fumes in their neighborhood and the pressing need to address environmental hazards for the safety of the community.
“We are an environmental justice area. There is no justice in our area,” said Linda Perry. She urged more community involvement, “especially because we breathe the air and we live in the shadows of the Port.”
Gerritt said that environmental justice itself could guide development and investment in different Providence neighborhoods.
“Economic development is a bottom-up process, not top-down. All of our economic investments should be going into low-income neighborhoods to people who live there, not giving money to rich people,” Gerritt said. He went on to praise the sustainability section of the Comp Plan, urging the city to go further. “If we are going to actually have an economy that works in this city, then we have to focus on climate justice as a climate justice economy, we have to get climate right.”
Historic Districts
Historic districts and preservation also emerged as a topic of discussion among those who testified, with some viewing it as a gentrifying force, a stall against development, or an important cultural mission of the Comp Plan.
PPS Executive Director Marisa Brown also made remarks and referred the Council back to the most recent statement from PPS on the Comp Plan last week.
“What we’re recommending is that including the National Register of Historic Districts and landmarks to the Comp Plan’s definition of historic districts,” she said. Doing so “would be much more equitable. Why? Because we know local historic districts tend to be in the wealthier and whiter privileged neighborhoods in Providence.”
The neighborhoods within historic districts get more say and design review over new construction, and can potentially be a means of preserving cultural heritage and community spaces.
Other residents saw historic districting as a means of gentrifying the city further. “If the policy of this Council is to increase gentrification in this city, the number one tool you can use is by expanding historic districts,” said Dylan Conley.
Diego Arlene-Morley is a homeowner in a historic district and said he broadly supports the upzoning and parking restrictions in the Comp Plan. “Great cities are dense, diverse and walkable neighborhoods that I live in, but I do agree with many issues presented… it does make some sense to build on an empty parking lot, as opposed to destroying something, and then you’re building again.”
Arlene-Morley said they supported making “radical concessions.”
“For example, we want better historical protections, and we can live with no R1 anywhere,” he said. “There’s going to have to be some exchange.”
Arlene-Morley added that he works as a clinical social worker at a homeless shelter in the city. “There are pregnant women and children who are homeless, living in tents,” they said. “They used to be able to afford their rents. That, to me, is an affront to the character of the city, and I urge us to think of them first before we think about any specific neighborhood or constituency.”
Next Steps
Public comment concluded after nearly 50 residents, organizers, and stakeholders spoke.
After testimony concluded, Deputy Director of Planning and Development Bob Azar was called upon to give a statement. “I appreciate all of the comments that have been made tonight,” he said, and added that he was going to withhold his impressions. “We have a lot to absorb” at the City Planning Commission, he explained.
“The idea here is that we need to find a balance — yes, we need to grow, yes, we need to aggressively make more opportunities for housing, but we also need to preserve the place that we know and love,” Azar added.
“The city is dynamic, the city is always changing, growth and development is always happening,” he said. “You don’t always get the growth exactly where you want it, but we have tried to create opportunities for housing and at the same time preserve the great character of this city.”
The testimony was continued to another hearing tentatively scheduled for Oct. 2 at 5:30 p.m., Ward 10 Councilor Pedro Espinal said at Monday’s hearing. The CPC will present revisions to the plan responding to public comments, and further testimony from Providence residents will be considered.
By Katy Pickens / Planning and Preservation Writer