The City of Providence owns 60% of the land at the Port of Providence. In 1994, in an effort to close a budget deficit, Mayor Buddy Cianci agreed to lease the land the city owns at the port for $16.4M. Under the agreement the city worked with the state to create ProvPort, a private nonprofit, to hold the lease for 30 years. In addition the city agreed to exempt ProvPort from property taxes in exchange for a percentage of their profits (roughly 5%). The lease was renegotiated in 2006.

In November 2022, ProvPort tried to push through a new lease with the city without any public input. The agreement contained nothing about resident concerns, limiting fossil fuels or any climate justice goals neighbors had demanded for years. The vague language in the ordinance said that those concerns could be addressed later in a Master Plan process after the lease was approved.

The City Council Finance Committee, chaired by JoAnn Ryan, rushed the vote on the lease despite passionate testimony from dozens of residents. There was no discussion, a motion to delay the vote was ignored, and the ordinance was forwarded to the full City Council for a vote (more here).

At a December 2022 City Council meeting, an agreement was reached to delay passage until there were conversations with the community (more here).

Community pressure produced a better deal. The revised agreement included no expansion of fossil fuel use through 2052, a master planning process with a minimum of 4 community meetings, a public City Council hearing, and a sustainability projects fund of at least of $120,000 a year (more here).

The ProvPort Master Plan process began in 2025 and includes officials from the Port, the City of Providence, the University of RI and 5 consulting firms. A Master Plan Advisory Committee includes City Councilor Pedro Espinal, City Councilor Mary Kay Harris, Monica Huertas of the People's Port Authority, Linda Perri of the Washington Park Neighborhood Association, Ron Crosson of the Southside Neighborhood Association, Michele Jalbert of the Providence Resilience Partnership and other community leaders and port business representatives. A full list is here

PPA has experienced frustration in the lack of transparency in the Master Plan process.

Community Benefit Funds

Promised Community Benefit Funds were assigned to the Providence Parks Department, which spent funds without consulting the community, despite earlier assurances that decisions would follow the master planning process.

Consultants and city sustainability staff promised to release clearer documentation, outline how funds were spent, and provide a public-facing draft of the master plan before final hearings in early 2026. Residents emphasized the need for meaningful participation, detailed financial breakdowns, and community representation on the ProvPort Board.