Monday, April 07, 2008

Federal Hill tower faces Zoning tomorrow night

Jef Nickerson of Greater City: Providence reports that there will a Zoning Board of Review hearing, at 7:30 tomorrow night, on the controversial tower proposed for Federal Hill. Here are the some of Jef's thoughts on the project:

I am writing on behalf of Greater City: Providence in regards to the petition to allow for zoning variances related to the development of a residential building which would be sited at #21 and #32 Federal Street in Federal Hill. We submit that it is premature to consider any ad-hoc zoning variances for this building until the completion of the Federal Hill neighborhood plan in accordance with Providence Tomorrow: The Interim Comprehensive Plan, which was approved by Providence City Council on December 7th, 2007 and by Mayor Cicilline on December 17, 2007.

The site of the proposed building is located in a section of the city which is defined by the comprehensive plan as a Transitional Area (Providence Tomorrow: The Interim Comprehensive Plan, Map 11.1, page 96). The purpose of these Transitional Areas is to “provide a transition in height, density and scale between the larger scale development anticipated in the growth districts and the lower scale and density of surrounding neighborhoods (Providence Tomorrow: The Interim Comprehensive Plan, Chapter 11.1, page 98). ....

If the Zoning Board of Review is responsible for “Ensuring that all zoning variances and special use permits conform to the (comprehensive) Plan” (Providence Tomorrow: The Interim Comprehensive Plan, Appendix D), then no decision on this request should be made until we have confirmation that this development is in accordance with the vision of this Transitional Area of Federal Hill . The creation of this vision should be decided by the Federal Hill neighborhood plan. That is why Greater City: Providence believes that it is premature to consider any ad-hoc zoning variances for this building approved at this time.