Archives For Government

featured-cpc

City Plan Commission Meeting – May 21, 2013

gcpvd —  May 15, 2013 — Leave a comment

Notice of Regular Meeting
Tuesday, May 21, 2013 – 4:45pm
Department of Planning and Development • 1st Floor Meeting Room
444 Westminster Street, Providence

Opening Session

  • Call to Order
  • Roll Call
  • Approval of minutes from April 23, 2013 meeting – for action
  • Director’s Report

City Council Referral

1. Referral 3362 – Petition for zone change from R-2 to M-1 at 230 Carolina Ave. Petition to rezone the property at 230 Carolina Ave from R-2 to M-1 subject to the use of the property being restricted to parking – for action (AP 58 lots 704-724, 726 and 730, Washington Park)

2. Referral 3363 – An ordinance in amendment of the Downtown Providence Renewal Official Redevelopment Plan Review of the amendment, which proposes acquisition and redevelopment of the building at 94 Washington Street, for conformance with the Comprehensive Plan – for action (AP 25 Lot 354, Downtown)

The “Narrow Building“

3. Referral 3364 – Petition to abandon a portion of Beach Ave. Petition to abandon the portion of Beach Ave along the eastern edge of the property at AP 17 Lot 416 – for action (Fox Point)

Beach Avenue appears to be a paper street which runs along the Seekonk Riverfront from the Gano Street off-ramp from 195 to Fremont Street. Lot 416 sits along Gano Street between the off-ramp and East Transit Street. The existence of that street would allow for public access to the water.

Minor Land Development Project

4. Case No. 13-014 MI – 207 Waterman Street (Preliminary Plan Stage) The applicant is proposing to demolish the existing building to construct a four story (50 feet), 30 unit multifamily development on a lot measuring approximately 11,677 SF. The applicant is proposing to provide 23 internal parking spaces, 45 are required. The development will require dimensional relief from height, parking and density requirements – for action (AP 14 Lot 516, Wayland)

Adjournment

In Government , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
permalink
featured-drc

Downtown Design Review Committee Meeting – May 13, 2013

Jef Nickerson —  May 7, 2013 — 2 Comments

Notice of Regular Meeting • Monday, May 13, 2013 – 4:45pm
Department of Planning and Development, 3rd Floor Conference Room, 444 Westminster Street, Providence

Opening Session

  • Call to Order
  • Roll Call
  • Approval of Meeting Minutes of October 15, 2012 and November 5, 2012
  • Acceptance of DDRC 2013 Meeting Schedule
  • Annual Election of Vice Chair

New Business

44-hospital

This building at 44 Hospital Street would be razed to make way for a 6-story apartment building. Image from Bing Maps

1. Pre-Application Review: 44 Hospital Street Proposal to demolish the existing building and construct a new 6-story apartment building. This item is for discussion only. No action will be taken by the DRC at this meeting.

Adjournment

See Also:

Providence Business News: Architecture firm files plans for Hospital St. apartments

In Development, Government , , , , , ,
permalink
featured-cpc

City Plan Commission Meeting – April 23, 2013

gcpvd —  April 16, 2013 — 15 Comments

Moar parkings pleaze!

Notice of Regular Meeting
Tuesday, April 23, 2013 – 4:45pm
Department of Planning and Development • 1st Floor Meeting Room
444 Westminster Street, Providence

Opening Session

  • Call to Order
  • Roll Call
  • Approval of minutes from February 26, 2013 meeting – for action
  • Director’s Report – Updates on the Thayer Street study and revision of Citywide Zoning

Major Land Development Project

1. Case No. 13-006 MA – 2-100 Harris Ave. (Master Plan Approval) The applicant is proposing to develop the subject property, zoned D-2, into a parking lot providing approximately 737 parking spaces. The lot measures approximately 174,575 SF and the applicant is requesting master plan approval – for action (AP 19 Lot 38, Smith Hill)

This is the site of the former Fruit and Produce Warehouse.

See also: Fruit and Produce safety hazard (01/10/2008)
Yes, you can haz demo permit (01/14/2008)

City Council Referral

2. Referral 3362 – Petition for zone change from R-2 to M-1 at 230 Carolina Ave. Petition to rezone the property at 230 Carolina Ave from R-2 to M-1 – for action (AP 58 lots 704-724, 726 and 730, Washington Park)

Major Land Development Project

3. Case No. 13-011MA – 225 and 230 Carolina Ave. (Master Plan Approval) The applicant is proposing to develop the subject property into a parking lot providing approximately 107 parking spaces. The subject property is zoned R-2 and will provide parking for an industrial business to the north located in an M-1 zone. The combined area of all the lots is approximately 45,360 SF. The applicant will apply to change the zone of the subject property to M-1 and is requesting master plan approval – for action (AP 58 lots 704-724, 726 and 730, Washington Park)

Adjournment

In Government , , , , , , , ,
permalink

ProJo: [195] Land panel’s powers debated at redevelopment meeting

Tempers flared at a Route 195 Redevelopment District Commission meeting Monday night over how much control the land panel may ultimately have or whether it’s being asked to cede to the state some control granted to the commission by legislation that created the panel in 2011.

The commission is moving closer to taking control of about 20 developable acres of former highway land, but it did not cast a final vote Monday about whether to proceed with a bond sale that will allow that to happen.

The bond proceeds will pay for the final phase of the $623-million highway-relocation project — knitting together city streets to connect the old highway land with the rest of the city. In financing the highway project, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation pledged a local match to the Federal Highway Administration. The bond sale will raise that money and allow the DOT to transfer control of the land to the commission.

It is hard to sell the land when we haven’t even built the streets and the utilities to it.

Posted by Jef Nickerson on March 12, 2013 In 195 Relocation Project , , , , , ,
permalink 1 Comment
featured-195commission

195 Redevelopment District Commission Meeting – March 11, 2013

gcpvd —  March 11, 2013 — Leave a comment

A meeting of the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission will be held at the office of Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, 315 Iron Horse Way, Suite 101, Providence, Rhode Island, on Monday, March 11, 2013, beginning at 5:00 p.m., for the following purposes:

I. Public Session

Call to Order: The Chairperson

  1. Welcome by Chairperson: Chairperson Colin Kane.
  2. To approve the public session minutes of the meeting held on February 11, 2013.
  3. Update on Executive Director Search Process.
  4. Review of Legal and Business Issues Regarding Purchase of I-195 Land and Related Bond Closing.
  5. Chairman’s Report/Agenda for April 8, 2013 Meeting.
  6. Vote to Adjourn.
In 195 Relocation Project, Government , , , , ,
permalink
featured-news

News & Notes

gcpvd —  March 7, 2013 — Leave a comment

→ The Atlantic Cities: The Great Senior Sell-Off Could Cause the Next Housing Crisis

In the 20 years between 1990 and 2010, these consumers [baby boomers] were at their peak family size and peak income. And suddenly, there was massive demand in America from the same kinds of people for the same kinds of housing: big, large-lot single-family homes (often in suburbia). In those two decades, calculates researcher Arthur C. Nelson, 77 percent of demand for new housing construction in America was driven by this trend.

“Ok, if there’s 1.5 to 2 million homes coming on the market every year at the end of this decade from senior households selling off,” Nelson asks, “who’s behind them to buy? My guess is not enough.”

Continue Reading…

In News & Notes , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
permalink

Vote for Providence in Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayors Challenge

gcpvd —  March 5, 2013 — Leave a comment

Providence is one of 20 finalists in the Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayors Challenge. Mayor Taveras has submitted a plan to increase school readiness and literacy for the city’s youngest children. See the video below outlining the Mayor’s plan and head to the Huffington Post to vote. Voting ends tomorrow.

See also: Bloomberg Philanthropies

In Charity, Government , , ,
permalink
featured-cpc

City Plan Commission Meeting – February 26, 2013

gcpvd —  February 21, 2013 — Leave a comment

Notice of Regular Meeting
Tuesday, February 26, 2013 – 4:45pm
Department of Planning and Development • 1st Floor Meeting Room
444 Westminster Street, Providence

Opening Session

  • Call to Order
  • Roll Call
  • Approval of minutes from January 15th 2013 meeting – for action
  • Director’s Report

Major Land Development Project

1. Case No. 12-011 MA – 257 Thayer Street (Final Plan Approval) The CPC approved the preliminary plan to construct a four story mixed use building with 95 dwelling units, underground parking and a landscaped courtyard in December 2012. The applicant is seeking final plan approval subject to fulfillment of preliminary plan conditions – for action (AP 13 Lots 42, 48, 104, 234, 235, 236, 237, 238 and 241, College Hill)

See also: UPDATED: Graduate student housing apartment building proposed on Thayer Street

Minor Land Development Project

2. Case No. 13-001MI – 55-57 Sprague Street and other sites (Preliminary Plan Approval) The applicant is proposing to construct a building with 21 dwelling units with a community room and agricultural green space at the site of 55-57 Sprague Street (M-1). The applicant is also proposing to construct townhouses with two to four dwelling units at proximate sites on 217-219 Dexter Street (M-1), 58-80 Diamond Street (M-1), 110-126 Wilson Street (R-3), 197, 196-202 Harrison Street (R-3) and 39 Westfield Street (M-1). The applicant is seeking preliminary plan approval. (AP 31 Lots 192, 252, 54 and 55 and AP 30 Lots 298, 293, 295, 296, 266, 674, 675 and 388, West End)

Adjournment

In Government , , , , , , , ,
permalink

Providence 2013 State of the City Address

gcpvd —  January 29, 2013 — 1 Comment


Mayor Angel Taveras

2013 State of the City Address

Providence Is Recovering

Tuesday, January 29, 2013 • (as prepared for delivery)

Photo of the Mayor delivering the State of the City from the Mayor's Office.

Photo of the Mayor delivering the State of the City from the Mayor’s Office.

Governor, Mr. President, honorable members of the Providence City Council, distinguished guests, and my fellow residents of our great Capital City –

One year ago I stood before you in this Chamber with an urgent message for our City and the entire State of Rhode Island. Providence was in peril. Despite many difficult decisions and painful sacrifices made to pull Providence back from the brink, we were still $22 million short of closing a $110 million structural deficit.

Crucial steps necessary to navigate our City safely through our Category 5 fiscal hurricane had not yet come to pass. We still needed to reform our unsustainable pensions. And we needed Providence’s large, tax-exempt institutions to contribute more.

As I stood before you on February 13, 2012, Providence was running out of cash, and running out of time. In the months that followed, there were some who said Providence could not avoid filing for bankruptcy.

BACK FROM THE BRINK

Today it is my privilege to deliver a much more hopeful report on the State of our City: Providence is recovering.

Through collaborative efforts and shared sacrifice, we have all but eliminated our City’s $110 million structural deficit, and we expect to end this year with a balanced budget. Working together, we have accomplished what few believed possible.

We were determined to address the root causes of Providence’s fiscal emergency and prepared to act unilaterally if necessary. And we knew our City would never achieve a lasting recovery without addressing our unsustainable and spiraling pension costs.

In April, following months of actuarial analysis and public testimony, this City Council unanimously approved a pension reform ordinance that put Providence’s pension system on a sustainable path.

We recognized that passing the ordinance would likely lead to a high-stakes lawsuit with no real winners – because a decision in favor of the status quo would push our City over the brink. However, faced with the challenge of negotiating pension changes with more than 2,000 retirees who were not represented by a single entity, we saw no alternative.

Continue Reading…

In Development, Economy, Government , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
permalink
featured-news

News & Notes

gcpvd —  January 29, 2013 — Leave a comment

→ USA Today: New tax hikes eyed for roads, transit

States are scrambling to find taxes to pay for highway repairs and their public transit systems, including payroll and sales taxes, and raising taxes paid by gasoline stations.

The proposals, being kicked around in at least 13 states as governors lay out their legislative agendas for the year, come as states find revenue from stagnant federal and state gasoline taxes isn’t keeping up with highways, bridges and urban transit systems that increasingly are falling into disrepair.

→ Next City: For Obama, A Renewed Focus on Urbancentric Topics

One should never expect to glean much policy insight from inauguration speeches, but President Obama indicated today that his administration will seek to take action on climate change and immigration as it moves into its second term. And as always, cities will be the proving grounds for how future policies affecting these issues play out.

During this morning’s inauguration ceremony, Obama touched upon several domestic topics — including investments into sustainable industries — that should have urbanists and urban dwellers perking up their ears.

Though light on specifics, the issues spotlighted today will likely set at least part of the executive agenda for the next four years.

Continue Reading…

In News & Notes , , , , , , , , , ,
permalink