To the editor:

July 3 will mark the sixth anniversary of Keep Metacomet Green. On that day in 2020, five women, East Providence residents all, came together, determined to preserve the Metacomet golf course as an open public space for the community.

Since then, KMG has grown from five to over 3,100 members. Our numbers continue to grow as the public becomes more and more aware not only of the proposed project itself, but the major alterations that the developer plans for the historic Veterans Memorial Parkway in order to accommodate the massive increase in traffic that development of Metacomet will bring.

Over the years, we have had heartbreaking disappointments, as, one by one, the Planning Board, the previous City Council, and the Waterfront Commission all gave their approvals. What began as the “we don’t have specific plans, just trust us” phase in 2020-21 morphed by the close of 2024 into 890 planned residential units and 153,000 square feet of commercial/retail spaces.

We’ve had our successes as well. In September 2020, the developer withdrew its application on the very day the City Council was to vote yea or nay on amending our Comprehensive Plan and our zoning ordinances. There was no talk in that plan of a 9-hole public golf course or 9.6 acres to be deeded to the City for public use. In Spring 2021 the developer was back, this time including the public golf course and public space. We at KMG firmly believe that what prompted the developer to come back with a “sweetened” offer was the intense public opposition to the initial plan.

With Metacomet now under the purview of the Waterfront Commission, KMG advocated for an archaeological study of the site based on irrefutable evidence of daily living activities by ancestral indigenous peoples surrounding the property. Now the study is in Phase III, and numerous important artifacts and more have been unearthed on the site.

We’ve had other important successes over the years as well. KMG successfully urged the current City Council to reinsert language into the new Comprehensive Plan that is protective of the Veterans Memorial Parkway. As well, the Council, at our suggestion, voted to send a resolution to pertinent state agencies calling on decision makers to observe every regulation and stewardship guide that calls for development along the Parkway to be limited to its traffic capacity.

Now the effort to keep Metacomet green turns to those state agencies—namely, RIDEM, CRMC, RIDOT, the Scenic Roadways Board, and the RI Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission—that will consider the adverse effect of a roundabout and expanded lanes at the historic Parkway’s intersection with Lyon Avenue. We will keep on keeping on as long as we need to.

We are so grateful. To our 3,100 followers, especially those who have been with us since the beginning, six long years ago. To the more than 1,500 signers of our online and paper petitions to stop the destruction of the Parkway. To the many drivers and bicyclists and walkers who honk and wave to us at our Saturday morning rallies at the Metacomet gate. We hear you. We see you. You keep us going.

Please follow us on Facebook. For more information and to subscribe to our e-newsletter, contact kmg4ep@gmail.com.

Candy Seel
East Providence
Keep Metacomet Green