PROVIDENCE – The state Department of Environmental Management announced it will host a meeting March 24 to present its new “Urban Environmental Design Manual” to community planners, designers, smart-growth advocates and developers. The public may attend.
The manual, produced for DEM by Dodson Associates of Ashfield, Mass., provides examples of how urban sites can be redeveloped in an environmentally sound way. Issues such as brownfield reuse, stormwater abatement and riparian buffer zone restoration are described and options suggested to address these issues. The manual encourages the reuse of existing buildings and infrastructure to lessen the trend toward sprawl in undeveloped parts of the state. Its goal is to promote cost-effective techniques that can restore environmental features for developers who are proposing to redevelop in urban sites, DEM says.
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“There is an increasing interest in redirecting development into our urban areas,” said Frederick Vincent, acting director of DEM, in a release. “This ‘smart-growth’ movement is good for the environment by taking development pressure off our farms and forests, and it makes good economic sense since it capitalizes on the tremendous public investment in infrastructure and strengthens local tax bases by restoring and revitalizing abandoned properties.”
Federal funding for the “Urban Environmental Design Manual” project was provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Blackstone River National Heritage Corridor Commission.
The March 24 meeting will be held from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. in at DEM headquarters, 235 Promenade St. in Providence. The presentation will be given by Peter Flinker, principal author from Dodson Associates, and Scott Millar, DEM project director.
The manual is available online at DEM’s Web site, www.state.ri.us/dem, by clicking on “Sustainable Watersheds Office” under “Programs.”
