My thesis question developed out of the Sierra Club's third annual report on sprawl that was released in September 2000. It was a 50-stae survey of development entitled Smart Choices or Sprawling Growth and it reported on two developments in every state; one that was an example of smart growth and one that was an example of sprawling growth. Along with that report was another Sierra Club publication and a subsequent Providence Journal article reporting: "Rhode Island's Nasty Nine: Nine of the worst sprawling developments in the state."

The Sierra Club defines sprawl as being "irresponsible, poorly planned development that destroys open space, increases traffic, crowds schools, and drives up taxes." Just from the broadness of this definition and the fact that there are many more extensive and diverse definitions made by the various organizations working to prevent it, it is clear that sprawl is a complex issue which impacts many different elements of society. Therefore, it is difficult to pinpoint what it is exactly that causes the multiple effects of sprawl, but we certainly know what sprawl is when we see some commmon results like traffic jams and commercial developments with no open space except for some token trees dotting a parking lot. My thesis examines this issue of planning for open space in the large commercial and industrial parks being developed across the state. I chose two properties included in the Sierra Club report, "Rhode Island's Nasty Nine," both of which are being developed by the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation (RIEDC), a quazi-state agency responsible for spearheading economic development in the state. The first proposed Master Plans for both of these properties were withdrawn due to controversy surrounding the development's potential impacts on the regional environment. I used these most recent and withdrawn draft Master Plans to see how the RIEDC was planning out open space and improvements they can make in a second draft Master Plan. Data & Analysis

It is clear that Rhode Island is concerned about protecting open space in order to ensure a healthy environment. Evidence of the state's interest in open space can be seen in the people's natural and cultural values for land which dedicated a $34 million bond elected for by the people in November 2000. Also, htere has been a thirty-year history of federal and state legislation protecting certain features of the environment from the damaging effects of development. The most restricting laws currently enacted limit development in the following areas: freshwater wetlands including streams, lakes and flood zones, coastal lands, rare species habitat, wellhead protection areas, groundwater aquifers (especially if it's a sole source aquifer), scenic landscapes, historic sites, and archaeological resources. Other primary environmental features considered critical to the stae for protection are agriculturally significant soils, recrational beaches, major forest tracts, steep slopes and greenway corridors outlined by the State Greenways Plan. All plans for development must be consistent with the laws and guidelines that serve to protect these areas when determining areas for development.

In order to see how 'smart' these development's plans were regarding open space, I used the Rhode Island Geographic Information System (RIGIS) database with ARC/INFO software to map the development plans onto primary geographic features. It is clear from my analysis that planning for basic open space protection like wetlands and streams does not sufficiently occur in the beginning stages of site design review. Because these resources are unbuildable by state law, it is in the best interests of all people involved to make certain that there are no plans for developing these areas. If all parties responsible for the development's plans used RIGIS, these significant open space resources could be protected more easily right from the onset of drafting site plans. This would benefit the planning process in the long run so as not to require timely and expensive redrafts, as in the case with RIEDC at Quonset Point/Davisville and former Ladd School in Exeter. Data & Analysis