South Kingstown's Healthy Design

After seven months of intensive community outreach and collaboration, town officials presented a plan that will make better use of land and town resources to connect residents to healthy lifestyles.

In August, the town secured a $225,000 grant from the state Department of Health that kick-started a series of community forums to help officials reshape town policies, its comprehensive plan and reorganize infrastructure to promote healthy lifestyles for residents.

Town staff partnered with the YMCA on Broad Rock Road and other health-centered South Kingstown organization in the Healthy Places by Design project. The studies focused on local’s perceived connection with walking and biking, recreation, access to healthy food and village and neighborhoods within South Kingstown. Two other towns, North Kingstown and Pawtucket, also participated in HEALTH’s pilot program that will eventually roll out to other Rhode Island cities and towns.

“This is a positive, wonderful project that really illustrates public participation at its best,” said Maria Mack chairwoman to the Planning Board, after the project presentation to the board on Tuesday night. “I think it has been a long time coming that we studied the link between not only land use and environment but land use and public health.”

As the grant program draws to a close next month, Murray said the town is now in a position to keep community momentum rolling to continue to make South Kingstown a healthier, more active community.

“The project mission and the Healthy Places by Design goal is to strengthen land use, transportation, and urban design policy and local ordinance,” said Vincent Murray, planning director. “Really the idea is to make that process more supportive of health and community participation. It seems disconnected at first blush how health relates to planning, but as you look at it more you see how it connects. It is a different way to look at planning and represents the cutting edge.”

Using a series of community-driven charrettes, the town’s Planning Department surveyed resident’s perceptions of infrastructure, program and policy within town that supports healthy lifestyles. A 31-page booklet catalogues survey results, the ideas generated through community forums, resources and programs available to residents and the town’s action plan moving forward to foster an environment for sustainable healthy growth. As the grant funds dry up, program leaders hope to continue to propel community involvement and the Healthy Places initiative forward.

“The goal from the onset is really to reach out and engage the community as broadly as we can and move forward,” said Doug McLean, project consultant to the town. “We wanted to continue that.”

McLean said community working groups would continue to meet, evaluate programs and infrastructure and design ways to change policy to make health-centered progress in South Kingstown.

According to Murray, the town already has a couple of projects in the works to increase community awareness of the town’s existing programs and infrastructure. Using the Planning Department’s online Geographic Information System (GIS) map, officials are working on plotting trails, hiking paths and the bike path within town so that residents have a clear understanding of where to access the outdoors. Murray said during community forums it became clear residents were under informed as to where these paths were. The YMCA and Neighborhood Guild recreation programs have also committed to making grant and reduced funding opportunities more accessible. For more information on Healthy Places by Design initiatives, click here.

“This has been one of the best things I have been involved in in my 28 years doing planning work,” said Murray. “You tend to get a little jaded when you go to the millionth meeting at night and these meetings have been a little bit energizing. We met a lot of people in the community who don’t normally engage with the planning process in town and it has been wonderful that we have had all segments of the community involved. Nothing but good stuff can come from this lot and there has been a lot of learning in this.”