Land Use

A sustainable Rhode Island is a beautiful Rhode Island. In a sustainable Rhode Island, ecological design principles will require a re-thinking of land use to maximize efficiency and benefits of the land. Every person should live in places of beauty, so art and nature will be incorporated into every community and close attention will be paid to the visual impacts of built environments so things like power lines will disappear underground.?????????

Rapidly increasing energy costs will encourage Rhode Islanders to develop communities where walking and bicycle riding will become the dominant forms of transportation. Americans will quickly discover that there are enormous benefits to such communities. One of the biggest impacts will be simply getting people out of their cars. Walking to work, to the store, to community meeting places or to nature preserves on the outskirts of town will bring people into direct contact with each other.

People walking together in the same direction naturally converse, establishing friendships, informing each other of current events, and discussing issues of relevance to the community. In fact, developing community and social capital will become one of many explicit goals for designing built capital.

Rhode Island land use policy will not be limited to pedestrian settlement plans. Effective mass transit will improve air quality while reducing the need for ever-wider roads.

As other countries have done, a "no net loss" of open space policy will be developed to ensure undeveloped places always exist to support bio-diversity and retain options for local agriculture within the state.

Car-free zones in many areas, with excellent access to public transit will mean dramatic reductions in impervious areas that will reduce flooding and allow the land and the ecosystems it sustains to filter water, restoring the nation's waterways to health. As the benefits of local food production become understood, greater emphasis will be paid to expanding Rhode Island's agricultural lands to produce greater amounts of food in the state.

GOALS	STRATEGIES	INDICATORS	PROGRAM EXAMPLES
			Households	Businesses	Institutions	Government
Land 1 Urban and rural centers possess distinctive senses of place that embrace community, culture and nature.	Land 1 Support strategic development of employment and activity centers, and rural centers that promote vibrant and sustainable lifestyles. Incorporate historical and cultural resources into community plans. Incorporate landscaping, open spaces and people amenities (e.g. crosswalks, public art, gathering places) that promote vibrancy and connections.	Survey: + perceptions of places of work, play and residence. Walkable communities. Number of activity center plans that exhibit a commitment to sustainability. Vacant storefronts of 'Main Streets.'	Participate in community planning and improvement projects.	Participate in community planning and improvement projects.	Participate in community planning and improvement projects.	See June 2004 Land Use Plan Document Identify employment, activity and rural centers, and create individual plans for their futures. Focus growth in existing and approved growth centers. Take a lead role in orchestrating planning activities to create vibrant centers. Ensure compatible plans among centers.

GOALS	STRATEGIES	INDICATORS	PROGRAM EXAMPLES
			Households	Businesses	Institutions	Government
Land 2 Land use patterns exhibit compact and efficient use of land and infrastructure.	Land 2 Renew existing centers. Direct new development along major transportation corridors and 'with transit in mind.' Promote mixed use development. See also Economy, Transportation, Resource Use.	Average vehicle miles. Average commute miles. Commuter transit usage. Resource consumption for new and renewed infrastructure (e.g. roads, water and sewerage lines, public facilities). Rural land converted to urban use. % of new residential and commercial land uses locating in designated growth centers.	Location choices reflect a reduction in commuting and/or ability to use transit.	Location criteria consider workers' commute, customer accessibility, and availability of supportive infrastructure.	Planning for new facilities demonstrate a commitment to sustainability principles. Higher learning: support local communities in addressing smart growth.	Urban services boundaries focus new development into approved, growth areas. Identify and direct renewal into areas whose infrastructure capacity is underutilized. Designated activity and employment centers receive priority funding for infrastructure investments. Reuse, adapt, recycle or rewild unneeded developed properties. Ecovillages developed through public/private investment.

GOALS	STRATEGIES	INDICATORS	PROGRAM EXAMPLES
			Households	Businesses	Institutions	Government
Land 3 Lands with high resource potential are designated for their sustainability-promoting use.	Land 3 Protect: Class I/II soils with crop potential Ag lands that can support livestock productivity Quarries, gravel Forestry Lands that protect water resources. Lands that protect fisheries resources Lands that offer energy generation potential Lands that protect wildlife. Lands that protect open space, views, cultural resources and recreational activities.	% of protected resource land with high potential, by type.	.	.	.	Inventory resource lands. Create plans for resource protection that emphasize lands with highest resource potential. Prohibit (effectively) non-reversible use of resource lands. Implement protection through bonds, land trusts, conservation districts, TDR, favorable tax treatment, loans for conversion to appropriate use, etc.

SUPPORT NETWORK State legislature RI Division of Planning, Statewide Planning Individual communities RI Department of Environmental Management RI Department of Transportation RI Economic Development Corporation RI Department of Education American Planning Association RI Association of Conservation Commissions RI Land Trust Council RI Builders Association RI League of Cities and Towns