Controversy surrounding a proposed container port and its place in the master plan for the Quonset Davisville Port and Commerce Park remained a hot topic even as members of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors approved the master plan by a vote of 8-to-2 on Nov. 14.
Members of the Quonset Davisville Management Corporation, which advises the EDC board, voted 5 to 3 to recommend passage of the master plan, while five other non-voting members went on record in opposition of the plan.
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“This year marks my 30th in government, at the state and local level. During that time, in all the planning efforts that I have been a part of, I have never seen a plan adopted that is so centered on a single use as this one,” said Sen. J. Michael Lenihan, an East Greenwich Democrat, who serves on the QDMC board. “That is why I think it remains flawed and does not maintain the interest or the point of view most affected by it.”
But Gov. Lincoln Almond, who heads the EDC board, disagreed, saying the issue isn’t about whether or not there will be a container port, but instead about developing what is expected to be the state’s largest commerce park.
“This plan does not create a port,” he said “It doesn’t allow a container port, it doesn’t permit a container port. It’s about creating a necessary infrastructure.”
In fact, the approved plan provides land use, transportation and infrastructure plans that officials hope will create a framework for development of the park. The master plan estimates that nearly 22,000 jobs will be created at the site over the next 20 years. That figure includes the more than 6,000 people that currently work at the site.
According to a July 2000 Port Feasability Study, also cited in the master plan, port development could bring close to 1,650 jobs.
But Sen. James D. Sheehan, a North Kingstown Democrat and member of the QDMC board, disagreed.
“Economically, this has been touted as jobs, jobs, jobs,” he said. “But even your own consultant has said there will be just as many jobs without a port as with a port. In reality this is a high risk venture where the competition is very stiff.”
Others agreed that the framework for the master plan was too specific.
“My biggest disappointment with this document is the issue of a container port,” said Lawrence R. Kunkel, executive director of the Central Rhode Island Development Corporation and a member of the QDMC board. “I think it has led us away from where we should have been looking and prevented us from doing a more thorough study of things like the high-tech marine trade industry. We spent no time looking at alternative uses and I am very disappointed with that.”
And while there was an attempt to remove a portion of the document that specifically mentioned the possible development of a port, the motion was overwhelmingly denied by members of the EDC board.
“There is an Environmental Impact Study going forward, removing the language doesn’t stop the process,” said Keith Stokes, executive director of the Newport Chamber of Commerce and a member of the EDC board. “This is just the beginning of a process that the entire state needs to be engaged in.”
A master plan has been in the works for some time for this North Kingstown site, the former home of two Navy bases – Quonset was shut down in 1974, and Davisville in 1992. There are approximately 752 acres of developable land in the park – 200 of which would be used for the proposed port. More than 800 acres are already developed or partially developed.
Eight towns in Washington County and three in Newport County have come out in opposition to the plan, saying it doesn’t fit with the community, and could ruin the quality of life residents of the area have long enjoyed.
“I still don’t think that we are there yet with this master plan,” said David R. Burnham, president of the North Kingstown Town Council, and a member of the QDMC board. “I think that there is still a tone there, and I would like to see more positive things.”
In addition, Burnham said, the master plan isn’t consistent with the town’s comprehensive plan – something Almond said could very well change.
“As the process takes place and we develop this plan and the town develops its plan we can come back to the QDMC board,” he said.
The next step is an implementation plan, for which EDC board members at the meeting approved $50,000 to finance.
