Annual Review of Kettle Point Development is Good

Each year the East Providence Waterfront Commission receives an illustrative report from Commission Chair, William J. Fazioli on progress made with the Kettle Point development.  Last month The Reporter interviewed Bill Fazioli to get the latest update.  The annual report is public and is given during the Commission’s advertised meetings and is available online to anyone.  The Waterfront Commission is comprised of up to seventeen members, five of whom are appointed by the City Council and five appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Mayor and Governor appoint the Chairperson.  All of the voting members are East Providence residents.  Commission members are leading professionals with experience in the fields of architecture, land use, planning, urban design, law, and business. The non-partisan Commission is committed to facilitating redevelopment along the East Providence waterfront with minimal “red tape” (EPWC website).       

From inception, the Commission’s primary goals were to foster the redevelopment of property to increase housing and employment opportunities as well as to expand the city’s tax base. Since all of the property available for development is privately owned but largely vacant or underutilized most residents may have had misconceptions about the Commission’s role.  Case in point the land upon which Kettle Point was developed was never public open space previously.  Instead, Kettle Point was once an active oil tank farm from 1930-1985.  There were twenty-five petroleum storage tanks with enough contaminated soil to make vegetation prohibitive. The former oil tank area was not only a hazard to East Providence’s environment, but it was fenced off to not allow public access to the waterfront. The tanks were removed but the property was a Brownfield classification due to contaminants.  It became dormant with a prior property value of $2.2 million and limited revenue for the city.

The current development did not receive a traditional tax break, but a TIF (tax increment financing) which benefits both developer and the city.  In TIF, the full taxes are paid in a split between the dollars to provide needed infrastructure and what goes to the city general fund. Current property values are over $98 million, with just shy of $784,000 to the city general fund in 2024.  Under the TIF arrangement, the infrastructure improvements to Kettle Point are paid from taxes derived solely from the properties within the district and not from any other city taxpayers or revenues. 

As Chair Fazioli relates, “the area went from contaminated brownfield, no public access, limited value to current apartments and medical facilities along with several public access attractions.”  The property was unkempt for years with a rusting fence and no public access.  Since Kettle Point was developed and monitored by the Waterfront Commission, the area has been totally cleaned of contaminants and now boasts of public access & public parking to an environmentally safe area.  There are new public walking trails with East Bay Bike Path access and a new 600-foot boardwalk and pier in the new City Park.  Additionally, there are now sixty-two new town homes and 228 apartments and a popular new medical office building with 225 employees.  All of this with beautiful views of the bay. There is public access to new recreational amenities like the Urban Coastal Greenway public walkway & pier.

City Council President Bob Rodericks is supportive of the Kettle Point development. “As an active life long East Providence resident, I have travelled the Veteran’s Memorial Parkway thousands of times.  As a kid, and until about 1985, I only observed an unsightly oil farm with very little, if any view of the bay. An old rusty fence never invited people to walk to the waterfront area.  Also, nearby Squantum Woods was never maintained well by the state and it led to the unattractiveness of the Parkway. The Kettle Point development is such an improvement from those days of blight. I agree with Chair Fazioli that the current development of Kettle Point is a major improvement from those days of contamination and little revenue,” said Rodericks.

Rodericks and Fazioli also sought to alleviate some resident concerns about any financial impact on the local school system.  “The first few years there were no children of school age in Kettle Point,” reports Fazioli.  “There may be a very few (school age) now, but nothing overwhelming.”  “Our school system is at its lowest student census in years and as a former school registrar I know that some students come and some leave.  The schools receive state aid for students and while we are monitoring census closely, it has not been a problem,” added Rodericks.

Voting members of the Waterfront Commission are: William J. Fazioli, Chairman – Waterfront Commission & Hearing Panel member, Steven Hardcastle, Treasurer – Hearing Panel Chairman, Timothy Conley – Hearing Panel Member, Domenic Pontarelli – Hearing Panel Member, Jennifer Griffith – Hearing Panel Member, David O’Connell – Design Review Committee member, Steve Amoroso – Design Review Committee Chair and Robert Andrade (all are East Providence residents).

Ex-Officio Members (non-voting) include: East Providence Mayor Roberto DaSilva, East Providence Planning Director’s Representative, Keith A. Brynes, AICP (Design Review Committee), East Providence Department of Public Works Director, Daniel Borges (Design Review Committee), Cynthia McCarthy (Director’s representative)- Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT), Michael Walker (Director’s representative)- RI Commerce Corp. and Terrence Gray (Director’s representative)- Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM).

Raymond Lavey, is the Executive Director for the East Providence Waterfront Commission (non-voting).

(Editor’s Note: Bob Rodericks is City Council President and a contributing writer to the Reporter)