§ 42-64-2. Legislative findings.
(a) It is found and declared that there exists in our state a condition of substantial
and persistent unemployment and underemployment which causes hardship to many individuals
and families, wastes vital human resources, increases the public assistance burdens
of the state, impairs the security of family life, contributes to crime and delinquency,
prevents many of our youths from continuing their education, impedes the economic
and physical development of municipalities and adversely affects the welfare and prosperity
of our state; that many existing industrial, manufacturing, recreational and commercial
facilities in our state are obsolete and inefficient, and dilapidated; that many of
these facilities are under-utilized or in the process of being vacated, creating additional
unemployment; that technological advances and the provision of modern and efficient
industrial, manufacturing, recreational and commercial facilities in other states
will speed the obsolescence and abandonment of existing facilities, causing serious
injuries to the economy of our state; that the drastic curtailment of federal military
installations in our state presently being undertaken and the announcement by the
United States government of plans to relocate large numbers of military personnel
and their families presently on duty in this state has and will further result in
an additional loss of employment and aggravate the overall unemployment conditions
of the state; that new industrial, manufacturing, recreational, and commercial facilities
are required to attract and house new industries and thereby reduce the hazards of
unemployment; that unaided efforts of private enterprises have not met and cannot
meet the needs of providing those facilities due to problems encountered in assembling
suitable building sites, lack of adequate public service, unavailability of private
capital for development, and the inability of private enterprise alone to plan, finance
and coordinate industrial, recreational, and commercial development; that the economic
insecurity attendant to chronic and new unemployment and the absence of new employment
opportunities constitutes a serious menace for the safety, morals, and general welfare
of the people of our state.
(b) It is further found and declared that the decision of the United States government
to close certain military facilities located within the state (including those located
in the towns of North Kingstown, Portsmouth, Middletown and Charlestown, and the city
of Newport) and to dispose of the property comprising those facilities will, because
many residents of the state were employed by the United States government at those
facilities, aggravate the condition of employment and underemployment mentioned above.
The United States government is authorized and intends to make available to the state
or to an instrumentality thereof, the property to be disposed of and by virtue of
the provisions of Public Laws 1939, chapter 696, certain land in the town of North
Kingstown shall revert to the state upon the abandonment by the United States government
of the naval base located there. With comprehensive planning and adequate financing,
the property can be converted to industrial, manufacturing, recreational, and commercial
uses which will promote a healthy and growing economy, thereby encouraging new industries
and commercial enterprises to locate in the state, enabling existing industries and
commercial enterprises to remain and expand, and alleviating the condition of unemployment
and underemployment that now exists.
(c) It is further found and declared that notwithstanding the decision of the United States
government to dispose of the property mentioned above, there will continue to be a
shortage of property in the state for industrial, manufacturing, recreational, and
commercial development. The expansion of the economy, while increasing the need for
that property, will continually diminish the supply of that property. Private enterprise
has encountered difficulty in providing new industrial, manufacturing, recreational,
and commercial facilities in economically strategic areas of the state, because of
the problems in assembling tracts of property suitable for those purposes and the
cost of providing adequate public services to serve the development.
(d) It is further found and declared that the acquisition and development of property
for industrial, manufacturing, recreational, and commercial purposes (including the
property to be disposed of by the United States government and that land reverting
to the state pursuant to the provisions of Public Laws 1939, chapter 696) and the
disposition thereof, must be undertaken on a comprehensive statewide basis so as to
assure that new industrial, manufacturing, recreational, and commercial sites are
adequately served by appropriate transportation facilities and public services and
that those sites are located in any manner as to provide for the orderly economic
growth and development of the state, while at the same time conserving the environment.
Local planning and development agencies and institutions are insufficient to provide
for that comprehensive statewide planning and development.
(e) It is further found and declared that the appropriate development of the property
to be disposed of by the United States government and that land reverting to the state
pursuant to Public Laws 1939, chapter 696 will require development not only for industrial
and commercial purposes but also for transportation, residential, recreational, utility,
institutional, civic, and community purposes.
(f) It is further found and declared that there exists in the state blighted or substandard
areas, or areas which are becoming blighted and substandard, including obsolete and
dilapidated buildings and structures, defective construction, outmoded and obsolete
design, lack of proper sanitary facilities, or adequate fire and safety protection,
excessive land coverage, insufficient light and ventilation, illegal uses and conversions,
inadequate maintenance, buildings abandoned or not utilized in whole or in part, obsolete
systems of utilities, poorly or improperly designed street patterns and intersections,
inadequate access to areas, inadequate transportation facilities, all of which hamper
or impede proper and economic growth of the area as well as the state as a whole.
(g) It is further found and declared to be the public policy of the state to encourage
the expansion and development of the state's harbors and ports; to foster and improve
the handling of waterborne commerce from and to any port of this state and other states
and foreign counties; to seek to effect consolidation of the ports of this state and
to promote a spirit of cooperation among these ports in the interest of the state
as a whole; to initiate and further plan for the development of the ports of this
state and to keep informed as to the present and future requirements and needs of
the ports of this state; also to furnish proper and adequate airport facilities within
this state and to encourage the integration of these facilities so far as practicable.
(h) In the furtherance of these goals, it is the policy of the state to retain existing
industries and to induce, encourage, and attract new industries through the acquisition,
construction, reconstruction, and rehabilitation of industrial, manufacturing, recreational,
and commercial facilities, as well as transportation, residential, environmental,
utility, public service, institutional, and civic and community facilities, and to
develop sites for those facilities.
(i) It is declared to be the policy of the state to promote a vigorous and growing economy,
to prevent economic stagnation, and to encourage the creation of new job opportunities
in order to ameliorate the hazards of unemployment and underemployment, reduce the
level of public assistance, increase revenues to the state and its municipalities,
and to achieve a stable diversified economy.
(j) The purpose of this chapter is to create the Rhode Island commerce corporation having
an existence separate and apart from the state, with the power and authority to acquire
and develop property within the state and to provide financing for the purposes set
forth above in this chapter.