Please sign petition to the Providence City Plan Commission to deny approval of application to demolish historic house and structures and subdivide grounds at 288 Blackstone Boulevard/Slater Avenue for construction of ten densely-sited homes.   

IMPORTANT: PLEASE send your personal comments to CPC at cmanjrekar@providenceri.gov  and PLEASE attend hearing at 444 Westminster Street, 1st floor, December 18, 2018 at 4:45 p.m. 

December 7, 2018

To: Christine West, Chair, Providence City Plan Commission

We, the undersigned, object to the application for combining master and preliminary plan stages of review for the demolition and subdivision at 288 Blackstone Boulevard, and request that it be denied by the City Plan Commission on December 18.

This unique, historic property is an integral component of Blackstone Boulevard, an Olmsted-designed parkway that is one of Providence’s finest examples of planning and landscape. Its extended Slater Avenue perimeter is a shared feature of the neighborhood, deflecting and slowing automobile traffic, and actively in use as an alternative walkway for community residents.

The proposal to divide the property into 10 densely-built lots does not comply with the Department of Planning and Development’s commitment to “ensure a high quality of life for city residents and a vibrant, attractive urban environment for businesses, workers and visitors.” Its out-of-character over-crowding of the site, as reflected in the developer's nearby Balton Road development, will negatively affect the long-term health and economic stability of the community. Its rejection of harmonious individual or communal siting will lower values of older homes in the immediate vicinity, depriving residents of adjacent green space, and inviting insensitive and poorly planned development that would diminish the integrity of the neighborhood. Harmonious community development is a city-wide priority, and it is of particular importance to historic districts such as the Blackstone Boulevard neighborhood.

The proposed suburban-scale development will have a deleterious impact on the lives of residents and visitors. Its consequences will include damage to foundations of abutting properties; negative environmental impact on water table, air quality, natural habitats of flora and fauna; safety hazards caused by an open, 3-4 year excavation and construction site; noise and health disturbances caused by diesel fuel pollution from construction vehicles; noise pollution caused by increased landscaping and sanitation services; loss of canopy and mature trees; loss of sunlight caused by over-scaled new construction; loss of privacy; negative visual impact of the development; significant increase of traffic caused by destruction of perimeter wall and insertion of numerous curb cuts; disruption of common use thoroughfare, undermining residents’ safety.

We ask the City Plan Commission to deny the application  to combine master and preliminary plan stages of review on December 18, and to ultimately reject the proposal to demolish and subdivide the Beresford-Nicholson estate.