Rezoning issue of the Port of Providence

Ports are crucial for many countries in terms of trade. The issue with regarding to rezoning of the Port of Rhode Island must be analyzed in details. The benefits of rezoning the port and constructing of condominiums, hotels, marinas, restaurants may be seen attracting from the political side. New facilities may increase the tax revenues of the State of Rhode Island. Additionally, it may benefit the economy by  increasing  employment rate if we considered that new business will create new job opportunities for Rhode Islanders. However, this issue is very complex. The port of Providence is located in a very strategic place. The port is on the energy supply route for Rhode Island, some part of Massachusetts and Connecticut and the decision about rezoning of the part may affect the energy prices in the region. Also, the port has many employees and possible rezoning of the port would cause these jobs to be lost. In addition to these, giving decision about the case is getting more difficult as the history of the port of Providence is taken into account.

The decision about rezoning of the port will affect many stakeholders. It seems that it is impossible to make all the stakeholders happy. Creating job opportunities by losing current jobs is a debatable issue. The optimal decision should be given after the analysis of both disadvantages and advantages of the rezoning. The effect of rezoning of the port on oil prices, employment rate, tax revenues, import and export all should be taken into account, and the best decision for all stakeholders needs to be given.