On Monday, Providence’s City Council will vote on an updated Comprehensive Plan, a ten-year roadmap for the city.
The final version of the draft plan, released today, would incentivize new housing development and ban new gas stations in the city, among other changes. But critics of the housing plan are worried it will grow student housing and contribute to higher rents. Mayor Brett Smiley recently criticized the gas station ban, characterizing it as irresponsible.
One amendment to the proposal aims to create more rental housing in the city by bolstering financial incentives for developers. These incentives would be part of an “inclusionary zoning” strategy which aims to create more affordable or income-restricted housing. City council members say that inclusionary zoning will help combat gentrification in Providence.
But some community members are worried the incentives will be used by developers to build student housing, which could instead drive up rent prices for residents.
In a public testimony, Resident Chris Tompkins said the Comprehensive Plan is a “green light” for developers to build more off-campus student housing. Tompkins said. “We have to stop cannibalizing thriving, existing neighborhoods.”
Councilor Shelley Peterson (Ward 14) said that over 275 apartments in her ward, which includes Providence College, recently started housing students instead of families.
“The median rent, as a result of student housing, is now three thousand dollars a month,” Peterson said.
Senior Deputy Majority Leader John Goncalves (Ward 1) also said that student housing has spurred gentrification, claiming that former Fox Point residents have been displaced due to increased university enrollment rates.
Other amendments would stop developments of high-pollution developments, like fossil fuel facilities, around the Port of Providence. Residents in the area already face plenty of environmental hazards and toxins, according to the City Council’s press release.
One of the most contentious issues discussed at the meeting was Goncalves’s proposal to “prohibit the development of new gas stations,” while installing electric vehicle charging stations in Providence.
While community members seemed supportive of the amendment at the meeting, Smiley recently criticized the plan.
City Council President Rachel Miller (Ward 13) responded to the criticism in a press release, arguing that there is insufficient demand for more than the 40 existing gas stations in the city.
“The amended (Comprehensive Plan) simply says: available land will be prioritized for uses that meet our urgent needs,” Miller added. “That the Mayor would risk the entire plan for the potential of building more gas stations is reckless.”
On Thursday, the proposed amendment was updated to allow new gas stations only if they contain sufficient charging stations for electric vehicles and obtain a special permit from the City.
Avani Ghosh is a Metro editor covering politics and justice and community and activism. She is a junior from Ohio studying Health and Human Biology and International and Public Affairs. She is an avid earl grey enthusiast and can be found making tea in her free time.
