SMART GROWTH Some new tools in the fight against sprawl BY IAN DONNIS

The ongoing development of big-box stores and strip malls around the state represents more than just visual pollution. Five years ago, a report commissioned by Grow Smart Rhode Island, a nonprofit that promotes sustainable growth, found that more land has been developed in the state over the past 34 years than in the first 325 years of Rhode Island’s history. Even more worrisome, the study found that "staying on our sprawl course over the next 20 years will cost Rhode Island taxpayers almost $1.5 billion, a figure close to our total annual state budget."

Sprawl, the wasteful use of land and infrastructure, is accelerated in Rhode Island by an ongoing cycle in which development, lured by open space and lower property taxes, has migrated from cites to suburban and rural areas. The new growth leads communities to pursue more industrial and commercial development to widen the tax base, attracting more residents, placing more demand on municipal services, and often triggering a new cycle of sprawl.

When it comes to getting at the roots of this problem, the state has a ways to go. "On the property tax front, we’d like to see the governor be bolder in convening a working group on property tax reform and looking at some real shifts in [moving] financial responsibility for public education for localities back to the state," says Scott Wolf, executive director of Grow Smart Rhode Island. "That would require something like proposing a statewide property tax . . . Those are politically difficult moves to consider, but we think this property tax system right now is broken. It’s not a question right now of it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. It’s broken."

In advance of broader changes, Grow Smart has made available on its Web site (www.growsmartri.com) a variety of resources, including a new "Toolbox" section, which interested individuals and communities can use to learn about taking steps against sprawl. Some of the toolbox highlights include in-depth sections on financing land conservation, better models for commercial development, a resource guide for zoning codes, advice on affordable housing, and policies that help to promote smart growth. The site also includes Power Point presentations on related topics. Since smart growth is a relatively new and expanding field of study, "There is a lot of useful information and guidebooks that have been developed in the last half-dozen years or so," Wolf says. "We’re trying to make those available to people in our state and even beyond."

On the positive side, Governor Donald L. Carcieri has endorsed a $45 million open space bond issue for the November ballot, and the governor’s growth planning council has invited communities to provide some ideas on pilot programs for mixed-use smart growth programs.

At the same time Wolf says, Smart Growth is trying to step up its informational efforts, "because we think Rhode Island is at a point in its history when we need to see more implementation of smart growth practices. We have some good policies, but we need more. We need more models for smart growth, whether it’s affordable housing or mixed-use development in town centers, conservation, residential projects. We want to give people a sense of how well these tools can work and examples. I think the time is right for this kind of service, because there is an increasing sense that Rhode Island is being discovered, and we want that discovery to be a positive thing and not the death knell for our authenticity and funkiness. I think the next years are critical ones for the state in terms of growth and development, and I hope we can get people to be more innovative in dealing with these issues."