What Does the Future Hold for Rhode Island’s Hidden Highway? Stakeholders discuss burdens, benefits of Providence Harbor and Port of Providence

By Monica Allard Cox

As you drive along Interstate 95 in Providence, south of the state house, the hotels, and the mall, cast your eye towards Allens Avenue and Providence Harbor. When you look at the smoke stacks, industrial buildings, salt pile, and fuel tanks, are you seeing an eyesore, an unfair burden on the city of Providence, or an economic engine that is vital to the city, state, and region?

At a spring workshop addressing development of Providence Harbor, participants from a variety of sectors—port industries, city and state officials, nonprofit organizations, and speakers from academia and other area ports—agreed that all of those characterizations might be true. The workshop sought to address conflicts over projected plans for the harbor, primarily between water-dependent businesses that require access to the deep-water channel of Providence Harbor and the city that receives little in the way of property taxes from industrial uses, making residential and other commercial development more attractive to city officials.

A Plea for the Port
Several speakers implored the city and the state to preserve, even grow, the port.

Joseph Riccio, executive director of the Bridgeport Port Authority, said that ports are vital to importing fuel.

“If we have an energy policy in this country, I don’t know about it,” he said, adding that the United States imports “massive” amounts of fuel through its ports, and no new facilities are being built. He added that the country is also importing more of its food in refrigerated vessels.

Speaking of the Port of Providence specifically, he said, “You’re in the top 50 ports in the United States. It’s not insignificant the amount of materials you bring in.” Without the port to import oil and gas, “your costs are going to go up. It’s going to affect you long-term.”

He predicted that more cruise ships might also make their way to Rhode Island. “The cruise ship industry is growing by leaps and bounds,” he said. “It’s a huge growth industry that needs deep-water ports.” For those unconvinced that the urban upper Bay may be a prime candidate for attracting cruise ships, Riccio pointed to Galveston, Texas: “If someone told you 20 years ago that Galveston would be one of the leaders in the cruise industry, you’d think they were crazy.”

In his final plea for preservation of the port’s traditional uses, Riccio addressed the fundamental pressure on ports to evolve into mixed-use areas: taxes.

“Maritime jobs pay good wages,” he said. “Yes, housing and development generate more taxes, but ports generate more payroll, and I think payroll is important to the health of the community.”

Cities Looking at Revenues, Redevelopment
Thomas Deller, Providence planning director, put the issue facing the city succinctly: “We survive on tax base.” While Providence is technically 96 percent developed, he said, its high number of colleges, universities, hospitals, and other such tax-exempt institutions represent 40 percent of the tax base. In addition, Providence’s challenges include dealing with poverty and a huge school population, many of whom don’t speak English. However, he said, “We’ve always been a strong port city.”

Jeanne Boyle, East Providence planning director, echoed Deller’s concerns about building the city’s tax base. While East Providence has active oil terminals along the Providence River, it also has 300 acres of vacant or underutilized waterfront brownfields.

“Redevelopment of these properties costs tens of millions of dollars just to clean them up,” she said.

Other challenges include a lack of high-quality architectural design, high traffic volume, and a dearth of public access to the waterfront. In a bid to change all that, East Providence has established a waterfront commission that is development-friendly, expediting permitting, but gives projects a “rigorous but fair” review.

Boyle cited several brownfields redevelopment projects the city has attracted, and pointed out that the mixed uses that developers envision include more than residences and retail space.

Making Mixed-Use Development Work
Exactly what mix mixed-use redevelopment plans entailed was indeed a concern of the port proponents at the workshop. Capt. Don Church, owner of Seaboats, a tug-and-barge company that moved from Providence to Fall River several years ago, said that by imposing residential sites next to oil terminals “you’re going to generate untold amounts of money for lawyers” with resident complaints about the noise and lights associated with the industry.

This issue is one that Portland, Maine, grappled with in the 1980s, when condos began to displace industry along the city’s working waterfront. The city placed a five-year moratorium on non-marine development on the waterfront. Since then, said William Needelman, Portland planning director, the city has embraced a true mix of uses, including ferries, a container port, a dry bulk port, a fishing fleet, and waterfront trails—but even with amenities like the trails, he said, “we are absolutely a working waterfront.”

He said that “new incompatible uses,” such as a recent condo complex next to an existing bait shack, “know they’re uninvited guests,” the implication being that new residents are welcome to stay, but not to complain about the noises, smells, and lights of their commercial neighbors.

Portland has even found some innovative ways to bring varying uses together. Some industrial buildings with tall first floors allow certain marine industries the types of space they require below, while providing office space above for other businesses. Needelman pointed out that zoning must allow for this type of mix, and encouraged “a fine-grain approach” to encourage different types of waterfront uses.

The Case for Marine Industry, Infrastructure
A tour of the harbor aboard the vessel Providence Piers gave participants a first-hand look at the area under discussion. David Cohen, owner of Promet Marine Services, spoke about the importance of the port to his business. Promet, which repairs and services vessels from fishing boats to ferries to tankers, relies on the depth of the channel, Cohen said, describing it as “one of the most important avenues to the state of Rhode Island and Narragansett Bay.”

Cohen said that 98 percent of Promet’s revenues come from customers outside the state from Maine to the Mid-Atlantic and beyond. “We’re not recycling Rhode Island money inside Rhode Island,” he said.

Moving his business from Providence to, say, Quonset Point, would be nearly impossible. In addition to the 40-foot federal channel, which Quonset doesn’t have, Promet’s infrastructure is expensive and difficult to move. Also, obtaining permits presents another challenge, as does dealing with a different “environmental complexion,” he said. He explained that Providence Harbor has a soft bottom, which Promet has dealt with by using many deep pilings, while other areas are rocky and would require different tactics.

“People just don’t understand the infrastructure that operates from this port,” Cohen said.

What Goes Where: Policy, Planning Address Needs, Constraints
Grover Fugate, R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) executive director, later pointed out that because Quonset is not a federally recognized channel, the state would have to pay for any dredging needed at the facility. Providence River dredging, on the other hand, was recently completed at an estimated cost of $63 million, including monitoring and other costs, most of which were paid for by the federal government, with less than 20 percent contributed by the state.

CRMC, which has jurisdiction over state waters and areas 200 feet inland from the coast, has, uniquely among all states, designated Rhode Island waters into six types based on their primary uses. These type designations limit what may be done along the shores as well. Fugate said that Providence and East Providence have over $4 billion in redevelopment projects under permit consideration, and for some of the projects to move forward, some waters may have to be “released” from their Type 6 designation, which gives priority to water-dependent and industrial uses such as ports and transportation.

While CRMC’s new Urban Coastal Greenway Policy, which pertains to the northern Narragansett Bay area, is designed to streamline permitting for redevelopment, CRMC is required by its federal authority to consider national interests, such as energy needs, Fugate said.

Public Access to Urban Shorelines in Demand
The policy includes provisions for increasing public shoreline access as well—another issue that was discussed at the workshop. Patrick Conley, owner of Providence Piers, where the workshop was held, said that growing up in south Providence in the 1940s and ’50s, the only way he could get to the waterfront was to trespass. Fugate said that under the greenway policy, over a mile of public access has been opened up. Deller said that Providence is also looking to expand public access to the shore, in part thanks to 19 acres of land made available by the relocation of I-195.

Rosemary Wakeman, Fordham University associate professor of urban studies, told participants that ports and public space do not have to be at odds, “Ports are sexy. Working waterfronts are sensational. People adore them.” She gave examples of revitalized ports from Brooklyn to Melbourne, and said that nurturing public support for ports, such as through “port days” festivals, was one of the keys to their success.

“You have a wonderful industrial port here,” she said, “Embrace your waters.”

Next Steps
At the end of the workshop, participants identified action items to pursue. Ideas included developing financial agreements between the municipalities and the state to ease the strain on municipalities hosting industrial uses, and looking at the marine economy from a statewide perspective through the R.I. Division of Statewide Planning. Several participants noted that many local officials had not been to the port or been out on the water in the upper Bay, and representatives from maritime businesses in the port discussed developing an industry collaboration to provide outreach to local officials about port activities. The Providence Working Waterfront Alliance, which includes companies represented at the workshop along with other waterfront industries, debuted in September “to educate officials and the public about the critical role of Providence’s working waterfront.” For information on the organization, visit providenceworkingwaterfront.org/.

The “MetroBay SAMP Workshop: Identifying Innovative Solutions to Guide Development Along the Providence River” was sponsored by CRMC, Rhode Island Sea Grant, the URI Coastal Resources Center, NOAA, the Rhode Island Foundation, the R.I. Economic Policy Council, Providence Piers, Promet Marine Services, and Sprague Energy Corp. More information on the workshop can be found on-line at: seagrant.gso.uri.edu/metrosamp/prov_harbor_wkshp.html.

—Monica Allard Cox is a Communicator for Rhode Island Sea Grant.

Rhode Island Sea Grant
University of Rhode Island
Graduate School of Oceanography
Narragansett, RI 02882

Coastal Institute
University of Rhode Island
Graduate School of Oceanography
Room 124
Narragansett, RI 02882