Tag Archives: Zoning

Needless fold on Blackstone

Posted on February 19, 2019 by

It looks as if the mansion and the even lovelier caretaker’s cottage at the Beresford-Nicholson estate on Blackstone Boulevard may be coming down. The developer, the Bilotti Group, brought to Tuesday afternoon’s meeting, as requested, a concept to subdivide the … Continue reading →

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Showdown on Blackstone

Posted on January 10, 2019 by

Next Tuesday’s 4:45 p.m. meeting of the City Plan Commission may tell whether Providence and its citizens can preserve its historical character. A developer wants to demolish the mansion, outbuildings and grounds of the Beresford-Nicholson estate on Blackstone Boulevard, and … Continue reading →

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Politics of the Fane override

Posted on December 12, 2018 by

When a pro-Fane tower councilman called in sick for Tuesday’s vote on whether to override Mayor Elorza’s brave veto of the Fane tower legislation, the council postponed the vote until tomorrow, Thursday, Dec. 13. Having spouted my opposition to the … Continue reading →

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Veto the tower, Mr. Mayor

Posted on November 26, 2018 by

I wrote a letter to Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza today [Monday]. I sent it by email and then hand-delivered another copy tucked inside my book Lost Providence, where I inscribed the title page in his honor. “Delivered with the sincerest … Continue reading →

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Committee’s Fane flip-flop

Posted on November 9, 2018 by

Learning nothing in its latest public hearing that it did not already know, the Ordinance Committee of Providence City Council reversed itself on Thursday to recommend that the council neuter the city’s zoning laws. It voted three to one to … Continue reading →

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Andres Duany: Downcity adios

Posted on September 6, 2018 by

The following is a guest column written by Andrés Duany, a founder of the New Urbanism movement whose planning and design firm, Duany Plater-Zyberk, has been deeply involved in revitalizing downtown Providence since the early 1990s. He writes in opposition … Continue reading →

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Not over till fat lady sings

Posted on May 16, 2018 by

High-fives aplenty greeted last night’s vote by the City Plan Commission to urge the city council to reject the Fane tower. The commission wisely ignored its staff’s argument that a 600-foot tower in a 100-foot zone is consistent with the … Continue reading →

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Fane’s Copycat Point Tower

Posted on April 25, 2018 by

The new design for Jason Fane’s Hope Point Tower might be separated at birth from MAD Architects’ Absolute Towers, outside Toronto. But it’s not really a separated-at-birth shot but a before-and-after shot – two buildings in a heightened state of … Continue reading →

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Two attacks on the East Side

Posted on January 27, 2018 by

These two really ugly new buildings on Providence’s storied East Side reveal a thoughtlessness and lack of consideration on the part of two highly respected private schools. People walking or driving by Moses Brown or the Lincoln School must wonder … Continue reading →

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Brief interlude at the DNA

Posted on September 11, 2017 by

When I was “Dr. Downtown” – my nom de plume at the Providence Journal – I was there at the creation of the Downtown Neighborhood Alliance, which met at the Regency under the presidency of my friend Maria Ruggieri, the … Continue reading →

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