Grow Smart Rhode Island is weighing in on this year’s gubernatorial race by urging candidates to think hard about economic development, land use and planning, and the state’s current property tax structure.
In a briefing book released last week entitled, "A Strategy for Saving Rhode Island from Sprawl and Urban Decay," the non-profit land use organization presented candidates with 47 policy recommendations, all of which advocate major change in Rhode Island’s approach to growth management, economic development, and tax policies.
Grow Smart Executive Director Scott Wolf said the goal is to get candidates to understand "what sells Rhode Island to the outside world is beauty, not brawn, and quality of life, not quantity of asphalt."
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"This is a real opportunity for us to get critical information about issues into the heads of the people who have the opportunity to lead and guide the state for a long period of time," Wolf said. "What we would like to see as the top issue for the new governor is having smart growth principles that direct the state’s approach to education, to housing, to land conservation, and to transportation. We also think it’s important that the governor understand the link between smart growth and economic development."
To highlight the potential influence of the new governor on future land use trends, Wolf added that "based on the policies that the next governor implements, the nearly 11,000 vacant lots in our five urban core communities could mushroom over the next two decades to 20,000 or cut by two-thirds, to only 3,000."
According to Wolf one of the top priorities for the state needs to be removing the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation from any real estate decisions.
"I think there has been some discussion among people who observe economic development in Rhode Island is about this issue," Wolf said. "People see the pros and cons of EDC owning and overseeing real estate. We have gotten feedback from local officials that they feel EDC’s real estate responsibilities sometimes conflict with the objective of helping all communities move forward with economic development."
Of real concern to Grow Smart is the Quonset/Davisville industrial park in North Kingstown, currently operated by the RIEDC.
"Quonset is a prime example of the conflict," Wolf said. "We think that Quonset should be a site reserved for companies that have no other feasible site to go to. We don’t want Quonset to be seen as a place where you can create any kind of job. But if your bottom line and your reputation is based on the number of jobs that you create at Quonset, then there is going to be a temptation to lure companies that already exist away from their current locations."
And while Wolf hasn’t seen that happen yet, he definitely sees the potential.
"It’s a perverse incentive for an agency focused on economic development," he said. "I think we need to remove this function from EDC and then they would be better positioned to be objective and strategic in the kinds of economic development they do."
Another important issue, Wolf said, is the state’s current property tax structure. Having the sixth highest per capita property tax burden in the country, he said, is leading to bad land use planning. The report suggests careful review of several different property tax reform approaches instituted recently in states such as Vermont, Michigan and Minnesota.
"First of all the heavy reliance on property taxes puts our cities at an economic disadvantage because they have fewer structures on the tax roll and often the average home doesn’t have the value of home in the more affluent suburban areas," he said. "That means taxes are higher in the city and that is a disadvantage for people to live and do business in the state’s urban areas."
The briefing covers 47 policy recommendations to address 12 issues. The recommendations including the following:
Addressing the many planning and infrastructure gaps identified in Grow Smart’s recent report on the future of Quonset/Davisville.
As an alternative to ad hoc economic development and growth policies , establishing a policy that identifies and targets funding to local growth centers. According to the report, these centers where compact, environmentally responsible, socially equitable development can occur that will reduce sprawl and increase job opportunities, especially for those most in need of economic advancement.
Adopting a more integrated and balanced transportation policy to increase alternatives to intensive automobile use and confront the transportation funding crisis that’s been documented already in the state/
Elevating the status and power of the state’s Statewide Planning Office to provide more coordination and focus for long-range land use planning.
Revitalize Rhode Island’s numerous urban and town centers, including the creation of a brownfields redevelopment income tax credit and establishing a stable funding source for full implementation of the Neighborhood Opportunities Program’s affordable housing and neighborhood revitalization activities.
