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6/23/2021
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House passes Edwards bill to simplify process of creating a municipal park or conservation land
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 STATE HOUSE — The House of Representatives today passed legislation introduced by Majority Floor Manager John G. Edwards (D-Dist. 70, Tiverton, Portsmouth) that would simplify the process for creating a municipal park.
The bill (2021-H 5259A) would create a voluntary mechanism for municipalities to use to dedicate a park, conservation or other land they own as public trust land in perpetuity to protect and preserve its future use.
“Tiverton has a very long history with land trusts and preserving land,” said Representative Edwards. “The town has put away hundreds of acres for open space. This is enabling legislation that will help the environment by allowing cities and town to preserve open land for future use by protecting it permanently.”
The legislation acknowledges that people rely on parks and other public open spaces and conservation land as stable, reliable places of comfort, rest, and renewal in their lives. People make decisions on where to reside and work based on proximity to these places.
Under the bill, once a city or town dedicates property it holds as a public trust land, such land would be perpetually protected from conversion to a use other than the use for which it was originally obtained. Acceptable uses of the land would only be those that perpetuate outdoor recreation, open space benefits and natural resource conservation.
At a meeting of the House Committee on Municipal Government and Housing, several people testified in favor of the legislation, including Tom Rogers, chairman of the Narragansett Land Conservancy Trust; Rupert Friday, executive director of the Rhode Island Land Trust Council; and Meg Kerr, senior director of policy for the Rhode Island Audubon Society.
The measure now moves to the Senate, which has passed similar legislation (2021-S 0172A) introduced by Sen. Dawn Euer (D-Dist. 13, Newport, Jamestown).
For more information, contact:
Daniel Trafford, Publicist
State House Room 20
Providence, RI 02903
(401)222-1922
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