For Release: July 1, 1997

Contact: Stephanie Powell 277-2771 ext. 4418

Bill Pett 277-3434 ext. 4417

PROVIDENCE - The RI Department of Environmental Management, in conjunction with the towns of Scituate, Foster, and Glocester, presented the results of the Scituate Reservoir Watershed Zoning Project in a ceremony this morning at the historic Scituate Town Hall in North Scituate.

The report contains model innovative, flexible approaches to zoning and subdivision regulations that will allow the three towns to protect the Scituate Reservoir watershed from degradation while preserving the rural character of the towns. The approach promotes sustainable development, accommodating growth while preserving resources. DEM is awarding $2,500 to each of the three towns to implement recommendations of the report.

Frederick Vincent, Acting Director of DEM, said, "This has been a very exciting project for DEM, not only because it helps protect the State's largest drinking water supply but because of the process by which it was developed - a collaborative working relationship between DEM and the three towns, Scituate, Foster, and Glocester.

"It is also exciting," Vincent said, "because the innovative approach to zoning and subdivision ordinances that has been developed offers a model to other communities. Portsmouth, in fact, has already adopted the approach."

The project began as a way to help the three towns comply with the State's Comprehensive Planning Act which required them to adopt innovative zoning laws in line with the Scituate Reservoir Watershed Management Plan, Vincent said. "The towns made changes in their comprehensive plans to comply, but lacked the resources to readily develop a full-fledged set of new zoning regulations," he said.

"Here at DEM we wanted to find a way to work with the communities to achieve our mutual goal to protect the reservoir from potential sources of contamination, as well as their local goal to protect the traditional characters of their towns," Vincent said. "DEM brought the towns to the table together to combine the expertise and will of residents of all three towns, instead of leaving each town to struggle with the same problem."

DEM then obtained $58,000 in funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to hire The Newport Collaborative, an architectural and planning firm, as project consultant, and officials and other interested residents of the three towns joined together on a Blue Ribbon Committee to oversee the work of the consultant and ensure the emerging plan would meet local needs.

The effort was based on mutual trust Vincent said. "The towns trusted DEM not to impose a solution on any of the towns and DEM trusted them to work out the solutions that best fit their local needs while protecting the resource. The resulting process demonstrated the power of collaborative effort. We think this is the way of the future, the regulatory agency working with communities to establish policies that benefit everyone."

Retired Scituate Town Council President Alvah Vernava, who was involved in the project from the beginning, described the significance of the report to the three towns by saying the flexibility contained in the new zoning approach would allow town residents to get optimum use of their property, maintaining traditional lifestyles such as farming while still building the houses they need.

Richard Youngken, project manager for The Newport Collaborative, displayed examples of the zoning models and explained how they would work.