Gadfly cites gentrification concern on Promenade plan

Dear City Plan Commission Members:

I am writing to urge you to delay any action on the "Promenade Center" redevelopment project plan and TIF plan, for the following reasons:

1. To my knowledge, you have not acted to approve or disapprove the Olneyville/Valley/Smith Hill Neighborhood Plan which was presented to you in August, and the TIF area lies within the Valley and Smith Hill neighborhoods.

2. The Redevelopment/TIF Plan violates the draft Neighborhood Plan in a number of areas listed below (and maybe more).

3. Perhaps because massive public disapproval killed the Downtown TIF plan two years ago, the "Promenade Center" plan seems to have been deliberately developed in secret, and sprung upon an unsuspecting public last Thursday (10/16). Although I have more research to do, and am awaiting receipt of public records I requested, I suspect that the Providence Redevelopment Agency may have violated the Open Meetings Act by holding discussions of the "Promenade Center" plan in executive session. I think this matter needs to be fully investigated.

4. At this point in time, I have seen no evidence that anyone other than Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse was involved in planning this "redevelopment" and TIF. If the other businesses in the area and the neighborhood residents were indeed left out of the process, that was very, very wrong, and it looks bad that your Chairman is Struever’s architect.

5. No details of the "affordable housing" piece of the plan have been made public as yet, so it can not be determined if this part of the plan conforms with the Interim Comprehensive Plan. Perhaps you have been given those details, but the public has not.

6. While the letter of the law may not require it, I believe you are ethically bound to hold a public hearing on this matter. Many of us who have seen the (rather skimpy) plan are very concerned that once again the Mayor and the Planning Department are trying to drive out industry in favor of condos, offices, and retail. We have seen what happens when cities attempt to build a "New Economy" on real estate taxes. This plan looks very much like it will result merely in moving office jobs from place to place, rather than creating new jobs for Rhode Islanders. It also looks like it will encourage more polluting car travel and use of precious land for parking, and will contribute nothing to the green jobs revolution that so many voices call for.