Local Initiatives 



Communities with insufficient professional planning capability or 

 without staff assistance for town boards have been the most reluctant to 

 implement local controls which expand on a conservative interpretation of 

 local authority. Given the lack of funds and personnel available in these small 

 communities, the largely volunteer boards arc strained in meeting basic review workloads 

 and are unlikely to adopt additional requircments. 



Fundamentally, the extent of variation among town initiatives is quite broad, with regard 

 to approach and effectiveness. In order to make a comprehensive determination 

 of local government roles and potential responsibilities in Bay water quality 

 management, an in-depth analysis must be completed, building on the effons 

 undertaken at tiie Division of Planning and by the DEM groundwater program. 



The analysis should involve a thorough inventory of water quality- 

 related regulations at the local level, should describe funding and staffmg 

 levels, coordination mechanisms, and other factors contributing to the 

 strength and weaknesses of local initiatives. In Massachusetts, such an inventory 

 was completed over a one year period with Buzzards Bay Project funding, along with an 

 assessment of Bay communities' progress in addressing the recommendations of the state 

 208 plan. 



Overall Recommendations to Town Councils 



Planning Capability and Review of Cumulative Impacts 



Chapter 45-22 of the General Laws of Rhode Island required cities and towns to establish 

 planning boards or commissions which are required to prepare comprehensive plans. The 

 plans must include, among other requirements, environmental protection programs and a 

 recommended program of action or implementation. In conformance with this statute: 



♦♦♦Undertake an environmental review to support evaluation of community 

 land use objectives, and development of necessary resource protection 

 programs. Consider the range of important issues and factors outiined in guidance 

 prepared by the Division of Planning to assist towns in preparing comprehensive plans as 

 required by the 1988 Comprehensive Planning and Land Use Regulation Act. Develop an 

 inventory and review strategy which will support broad planning objectives, including 

 revision of the town Comprehensive Plan, revision of related town ordinances, adjustment 

 of zoning policy, etc, as needed to ensure, at a minimum, consistency with state resource 

 protection policy. The factors considered in the review should be assessed quantitatively, 

 and estimates of error should be made where possible. 



♦♦Prepare maps and overlays indicating locations of the factors 

 investigated in the environmental review. These maps should reasonably draw 

 upon (and be consistent with) available engineering master plans, facilities plans, zoning 

 maps, flood designation maps, SCS soils maps, etc., but should clearly illustrate results of 

 the inventories undertaken within the scope of the environmental review. The maps should 

 be prcpared at a scale sufficient to make them usable in public prcsentations, but should 

 also be reducible for use as public education tools. 



♦♦♦Using the results of the environmental review, undertake an assessment 

 of existing ordinances, by-laws, municipal policies, and other control 



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