The Providence City Plan Commission voted unanimously Tuesday night to adopt some zoning ordinance changes based off of the city’s new comprehensive plan. Broadly speaking, the zoning changes would allow greater density in most neighborhoods in Providence, with the exception of Blackstone and some pockets of the West side.
While the comprehensive plan is a general guide for Providence’s growth that the city creates every 10 years, the zoning ordinances crystallize that growth into law and specify exact building requirements.
The updates approved by the commission still need to be adopted by the City Council and mayor before they become law.
Deputy Planning Director Bob Azar said he split the zoning ordinance vote before the Plan Commission into two parts: Tuesday’s vote on relatively non-contentious topics, and a vote next year on measures likely to draw some debate.
This week the commissioners primarily discussed proposed zoning changes designed to create more affordable housing opportunities for the so-called “missing middle” of first-time homebuyers.
Commissioners approved changes to decrease the required width of a rowhouse lot to allow for more compact building. People who support the change say it would encourage more developers to build this type of medium density housing over larger scale apartment buildings.
Commissioner Dave Caldwell said he supported the change as a way to create more homeownership opportunities in Providence.
“The American tradition of home ownership has been essential to generational wealth building, and I think that’s a really key component of planning in America, and I think single family attached homes are a way to expand that opportunity to more people today,” he said.
Commission chair Michael Gadzacko referred to this kind of owner-occupied density as “better density.”
While Azar, the deputy planning director, said he welcomed more housing in residential areas, he also cautioned the commissioners against over-relying on residential areas for supporting too much the city’s housing density.
“The residential zones are no longer sacrosanct like they were with the last comprehensive plan. But to what degree are we looking to the residential zones to solve the housing woes?” he said.
One surprise contention of the night was requirements for trees. The city wants to add more large tree canopy coverage as a way to help moderate temperatures in neighborhoods and increase filtration of both air and stormwater pollutants.
The planning department had put forward a proposal that would force homeowners to purchase and plant three hardy saplings likely to grow to large sizes for every one tree they remove from their yard. But after some pushback from Commissioner Cyd McKenna, who said homeowners should not be faulted for removing dangerous or diseased trees, the commissioners opted instead to adopt a plan requiring homeowners removing compromised trees to purchase only one replacement, and homeowners removing trees for other reasons to replace those trees at a three to one ratio.
The proposed changes will now head to the City Council, which will hold public hearings before taking a vote. If approved, they will head to the mayor’s desk for potential signing into law.
At a meeting in early 2025, the City Plan Commission will review the more contentious changes to its zoning ordinances, including topics like whether to ban new gas stations and parking minimums for buildings, and how to regulate environmental contamination at the Port of Providence.
