There
are several planned commercial developments in the state that are
of such a scale that, even though they are located in one community,
their environmental impacts can be felt in many surrounding communities.
That's why planning for these large developments occurs at both
the state and town level. Through the RI Comprehensive Planning
and Land Use Regulation Act (RI GL 45-22.2-3), open space plans
for these developments must comply with all federal and state laws,
as well as the RI State Guide Plan, it's elements (RI GL 42-11-10)
and the local town ordinances applicable to open
space protection. The town planning boards, state agencies,
and especially the developers, have it in their best interests to
use the state of the art resources that are available to them for
planning these large developments. The Rhode Island Geographic Information
System (RIGIS) is the most comprehensive
and current geographically-referenced statewide resource data available
and is available to a majority of the towns, all state agencies
(including the RI Economic Development Corporation) and many businesses
associated with development (engineers, consultants, developers).
Currently, this technical capacity is not being realized and when
it is, there will be computerized coordination between all responsible
parties throughout the entire planning process so as to ensure that
the design of the site incorporates open space plans that protect
land and water resources indicated by the state, or town, as being
critical resources which must be reserved
undeveloped or must have more restrictions on their development.
My spatial analysis conducted during my study of two recently withdrawn
site plans shows how the RIGIS database needs to be incorporated
more thoroughly into the site design process so that 'smarter' open
space planning is carried out.
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