The Providence City Council will soon consider whether to ban development of new gas stations in the Rhode Island capital in favor of pushing drivers toward electric vehicles. 

The council’s ordinance committee this week adopted an amendment to Providence’s draft comprehensive plan to prohibit new gas stations from being developed within city limits. 

The five-member committee is scheduled to meet again next week to finish consideration of the comprehensive plan, an urban planning document detailing Providence’s growth and development policies that is updated every decade.

If the panel approves it, it would go to the full 15-member city council for a final vote.

Councilman John Goncalves, who introduced the amendment but does not sit on the ordinance committee, told local news outlet WPRI that while other U.S. cities have enacted similar bans, Providence would be the first on the East Coast to do so.

“We face an unprecedented climate crisis,” he said. “This is an issue where we can – and must – take bold action. Providence can lead the way in reducing carbon emissions and promoting cleaner, greener energy alternatives.”

The proposal didn’t come out of left field. 

An earlier June draft of the comprehensive plan had the same goal but with far softer language: “Discourage the development of new gas stations within City limits. Encourage the installation of electric vehicle charging stations when existing gas stations are updated/rehabilitated.”

The amendment the ordinance committee adopted Wednesday night changed only the first word “discourage” to “prohibit.” The vote was unanimous, but two of the panel’s five members were absent. The plan itself is not binding but guides the city council as it considers zoning law changes that would enforce the goals outlined within it. The document also can be used in litigation to help settle disputes where the law is not clear.

All 15 Providence City Council members are Democrats. With the party seeking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming, the gas station ban may face little, if any, resistance from the council. 

Mr. Goncalves said Providence has an abundance of existing gas stations that will continue to serve the city as it begins “gradually shifting to the energy of the future.”

• Lindsey McPherson can be reached at lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com.