IN 1990, the City of Providence completed the Providence Industrial Waterfront Plan.

Recommending that the area be zoned for industrial use and protected from incompatible residential uses, the plan presciently concluded that the “preservation and promotion of the Providence industrial waterfront as an important marine industrial district will respond to the demands of the marketplace and provide an assurance that the unique and limited resources of the waterfront are preserved to support the expanding needs of the region.”

Thanks in large part to this decision 17 years ago, the Port of Providence and the area’s working-waterfront businesses are thriving. With a 40-foot-deep channel, easy access to railways and highways, and a hub location able to serve a broad market, the Port of Providence is now one of the top 50 ports in the U.S.

As a gateway to the regional and global economies, over 2,000 ships a year use the port to unload salt, cement, asphalt and petroleum products, and load up with scrap metal for export to international markets. In total, more than 9 million tons of cargo move through the port every year.

Port of Providence fuel terminals also supply virtually all of the heating oil for Rhode Island, Worcester County, Cape Cod and the islands, and eastern Connecticut households and businesses. In Rhode Island alone, there are more than 450,000 oil-heat customers. In addition, the port is Rhode Island’s only source of residual heavy fuel oil for hospitals, universities, commercial buildings, state and municipal buildings and utilities.

All of this activity means jobs. Providence working-waterfront businesses directly employ hundreds of workers and are responsible for thousands more related jobs, such as tradesmen, truck drivers and service technicians. These blue-collar jobs, rapidly disappearing elsewhere in Rhode Island, provide good salaries and benefits.

According to a recent study by the American Association of Port Authorities, port-sector workers earn, on average, about $50,000, which is $13,000 more than the national average wage.

Recognizing the unique regional economic importance of the Port of Providence, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently completed a $65 million dredging project to ensure continued 40-foot-deep access to the port. This has spurred many working-waterfront companies to invest millions of additional dollars to dredge their own piers and upgrade their facilities to compete for increased cargo traffic being created by rapidly growing overseas trade volume.

Indeed, according to the Transportation Institute, by 2020 U.S. foreign trade in goods may grow to four times today’s value and almost double current tonnage.

Our region’s congested highways are also creating demand for new shipping options, such as short-sea shipping. The Port of Providence is uniquely positioned to benefit from this emerging shipping method, which moves goods via waterways on smaller ships and barges from larger ports to smaller feeder ports.

Unfortunately, because of zoning changes now being sought by the city, the future success of this vitally important economic resource is at risk.

As laid out in the Providence 2020 Plan and in draft changes to the city’s Comprehensive Plan, the working-waterfront area along the Allens Avenue corridor — north of Thurbers Avenue and south of the relocated Route 195 — would be rezoned for mixed uses, such as residential condominiums, marinas, hotels, retail shops and restaurants.

Artist renderings in these planning documents portray an idyllic waterfront filled with glitzy new condos, hotels and boats moving about the port.

Completely absent from these renderings are existing working-waterfront businesses, many of which have continuously operated in the same location for over 100 years.

This gentrification of Providence’s working waterfront would be extremely shortsighted. While condos, hotels, and marinas may increase the city’s property-tax revenues, they would come at the expense of existing successful taxpaying businesses, good blue-collar jobs, and a regional economic resource that would never be rebuilt.

The costs to the region could be immense, as thousands of port-related jobs could be lost and heating and other energy costs would increase because of the expense of transporting these resources from other ports.

Evidence of just how short-sighted losing working-waterfront activities to residential development can be comes from our neighbors to the north, in Maine. According to a 2004 economic analysis, Maine’s working-waterfront conservatively contributed at least $15 million to $23 million more a year to the state’s gross product than coastal residential construction.

The reason behind this finding is simple. While home construction provides a one-time economic boost, the contribution of working-waterfront commercial activities occurs year after year.

In an effort to ensure the continued success of Providence’s working waterfront, several area companies have recently come together to form the Providence Working Waterfront Alliance. Alliance members believe that the Port of Providence is a vital regional economic resource that must be protected from mixed uses that are incompatible with a working waterfront.

For example, recreational boating from proposed marinas would directly interfere with heavy ship traffic in the port. Similarly, condo residents are sure to complain about the loud noises and industrial activity produced by typical working-waterfront operations.

In response to these concerns, city planning documents call for consolidating working-waterfront activities at the ProvPort facility south of Thurbers Avenue, or at Quonset Point in North Kingstown. Alliance members believe, however, that there are no suitable alternative locations for their facilities. There is minimal space available at ProvPort and state officials have already indicated that they do not want heavy industrial uses at Quonset.

Further, Quonset does not now have the 40-foot-deep channel access needed by working waterfront companies.

Providence had tremendous foresight in 1990 to protect the unique economic resource of the Port of Providence by zoning the area for appropriate industrial uses. That foresight has been rewarded with a vibrant working waterfront that provides good jobs and serves as an economic engine for the region. Now poised for growth into the 21st Century, Providence should again commit to protecting this vital resource.

While waterfront views from luxury condos and yachts may look pretty, it is the gritty hard work done along Providence’s working waterfront that would contribute the most to the long-term growth of our region’s economy.

Joel Cohen is the chairman of the Providence Working Waterfront Alliance and vice president of Promet Marine Services ( www.providenceworkingwaterfront.org).