PROVIDENCE – The City Council is moving toward prohibiting the construction of new gas stations within city limits.
The council's Committee on Ordinances approved an amendment to the city's Comprehensive Plan on Wednesday night that would change the language in one section of the plan from "discourage” to “prohibit" new gas stations.
The city is in the midst of a once-a-decade review of the city’s Comprehensive Plan, a wide-ranging document that guides the city's urban planning and development. A revised plan must be adopted by the City Council by 2025. The Committee on Ordinances will hold a final public hearing on the plan.
This amendment, introduced by Ward 1 City Councilman John Goncalves, is part of a slate of amendments announced by council leadership that includes stronger language to reduce parking minimum for new developments, "anti-displacement strategies" to prevent city residents from being priced out of neighborhoods, prohibitions on new "heavy polluters" from operating around the Port of Providence, and measures to sanction temporary homeless encampments in nonresidential areas.
The City Council said that if the proposed ban on gas stations is approved, Providence would become the first city on the East Coast to do so.
Goncalves said in a statement that the amendment would ensure available lots could be dedicated for more sustainable uses, such as for housing or green energy infrastructure such as charging stations.
Goncalves said new gas stations would run contrary to the city’s climate goals, which included the expanded use of hybrid and electric vehicles and improved public transit in the next decade. The city has set a goal of becoming completely carbon neutral by 2050.
“We face an unprecedented climate crisis,” Goncalves said. “This is an issue where we can – and must – take bold action. Providence can lead the way in reducing carbon emissions and promoting cleaner, greener energy alternatives. With this step, Providence can lead in a big way, modeling for cities across the region how to reduce carbon emissions and prioritize the expansion of green infrastructure.”
The last gas station to open in Providence was a Neon Marketplace on Dean Street in late 2022, which also features numerous electric vehicle charging stations. Around the same time, just a few hundred feet away, Irving Oil built a new gas station and Rusty Lantern Market convenience store at the site of a smaller gas station on Pleasant Valley Parkway.
The prohibition would be enacted through a zoning ordinance once it receives full approval from the City Council.
