CITYWATCH Providence residents cite concerns on zoning rewrite BY IAN DONNIS

Residents from a variety of Providence neighborhoods, ranging from the East Side to South Providence and Olneyville, took a step toward increasing their collective force by meeting this week to discuss concerns about a comprehensive rewrite of the city’s zoning ordinance. In particular, the residents believe that the city, by pursuing the zoning changes before articulating a comprehensive vision for planning and development, has its priorities in the wrong order.

"I think the most prominent reaction was, ‘thank God, we’re holding this meeting,’ " says Jonathan W. Howard, a board member of the Summit Neighborhood Association, who helped to organize the gathering Tuesday evening, November 30, at the Rochambeau Branch Library. Residents turned out from across the city, including Mount Pleasant, the West Side, and the Jewelry District, and "unanimously, people feel this plan [to put the zoning rewrite ahead of the Comprehensive plan] isn’t well thought out." The next step will be to communicate to the city the need to step back from zoning changes to focus instead on the larger planning and development vision.

Although Mayor David N. Cicilline formally announced the comprehensive rewrite of the zoning ordinance in late October, this initiative was first reported by the Phoenix in a story (see "Boiling Point," News, October 8) that revealed broad concern on the part of neighborhood activists about a perceived lack of development policy, and the corresponding threat to the city’s character. The focal point was the approval by the Zoning Board of a 10-story luxury condo tower that will greatly exceed the prevailing height of structures on Atwells Avenue in Federal Hill.

At the time, Thomas E. Deller, director of the Providence Department of Planning & Development, cited the zoning rewrite as part of the fix necessary to prevent appointed, independent boards from implementing de facto development policy. Deller, who indicated his hope that the new zoning regulations could be approved by March 2005, said they would include a revised land development process to increase the city’s leverage in cases such as the Atwells condo tower by putting proposals before the city Plan Commission.

Judging by the comments of neighborhood activists, though, residents in different corners of the city remain troubled by the city’s zoning rewrite. An e-mail circulated in advance of the November 30 meeting cited as top goals: "1. Planning before Zoning, not Zoning before Planning. 2. Protect the interests of neighborhoods." As the e-mail by Howard elaborated, "We believe that representatives of Providence’s neighborhood associations must act soon to communicate the real needs of neighborhoods to the mayor, his administration, and the members of the zoning commission now considering changes to the law. Without swift action, the new Zoning Code may be in force before its impact on neighborhoods can be fully assessed and considered."

Deller did not respond to a telephone message left at his office on Tuesday. Howard says city officials were asked not to attend the Rochambeau meeting and honored this request.

One challenge facing the emergence of a citywide coalition to advocate for residents is how different Providence neighborhoods often have very different concerns. But even though some of the objectives of the Rochambeau meeting – such as dissolving or reconstituting Cicilline’s Zoning Commission and investing in review and reform of the city’s Comprehensive plan — may be overly ambitious, the gathering marks a start, and Howard expects participants to get together again.