Five ways the RI House speaker's package of bills could change the way housing is built
PROVIDENCE - House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi on Thursday debuted his latest housing policy legislative package aimed at improving Rhode Island's worst-in-the-nation rate of new home construction.
"Look around. Have we solved the problem?" Shekarchi asked a packed room at the State House. "No. Not even close ... Our housing and homelessness crisis didn't happen overnight. It was decades in the making and unfortunately may get worse as interest rates come down."
The new 15-bill housing package – coming on the heels of a 14-bill housing agenda last year – would legalize homes in commercial areas and modular houses in single-family neighborhoods, and would also put limits how long municipalities can impose a construction moratorium.
Last year Rhode Island was 50th in the nation for per capita new housing units approved for construction, according to census figures. Although Shekarchi hasn't named a specific target for new construction, he described the current rate of around 1,200 units permitted a year "unacceptable."
The package comes as cities and towns are still adjusting to changes in state law – many of them technical and related to how local permitting bodies operate – made by Shekarchi's previous housing package.
More: Rhode Island's housing crisis is at a breaking point. How did we get here?
Because most of those changes went into effect just a few months ago, it is hard to evaluate their impact or say whether they have moved the needle on home production the way Shekarchi hoped they would.
Asked what difference last year's changes are making on the ground, Shekarchi pointed to Warren, where planners reversed their decision to shrink a proposed affordable development after realizing the newly enacted laws could leave them vulnerable to legal challenge.
"You are seeing more density and new housing being built," he said.
The one bill in last year's House housing package that didn't become law would have allowed homeowners to put accessory apartments or "granny flats" on their properties. After being killed by the Senate last year, it has already been passed by the House this year and is one of Shekarchi's top priorities.
He described limiting accessory units to owner-occupied properties a "poison pill" but said he is working with the Senate on the bill.
Here are some key takeaways from the new bills:
Homes would be allowed on commercial streets
One of last year's House housing bills made it easier to convert mills and offices into apartments.
This year, a bill from Rep. Joshua Giraldo, D-Central Falls, would go further, allowing residences in all commercial zones without a zone change. Homes would also be allowed in all industrial areas unless there is a public safety risk.
Shekarchi on Thursday said current state law allows residences, which are generally less intensive than business uses, in commercial areas, but municipalities often require an expensive and time consuming zoning change that discourages the practice.
Building apartments above a suburban strip mall is one kind of development that might be able to take advantage of the bill, he said. Already, there is a proposal to do exactly that under review on Reservoir Avenue in Providence.
Manufactured homes could move out of the trailer parks
Shekarchi said most communities in Rhode Island allow manufactured, or modular, homes in single-family neighborhoods, but a few – including Richmond, Coventry and Smithfield – do not.
The bill would consider manufactured homes "as a type of single-family home on any lot zoned for single-family use" as long as they meet all dimensional, setback and parking requirements of the area.
Manufactured or modular homes are often less expensive than traditional, "stick-built" houses constructed entirely on site.
A separate bill in the package would count mobile homes toward a 10% affordable housing target for municipalities.
There would be a time limit on local building moratoriums
Because of how controversial new developments are in many communities, some towns have imposed a freeze on new construction or a limit on new building permits.
A bill in the new housing package from House Judiciary Committee Chairman Robert Craven, D-North Kingstown, would limit any moratorium to 60 days.
And the moratorium "must be related to a legitimate governmental interest taking into account the need for additional housing units in the community."
Affordable housing projects built under the state's Low and Moderate Income Housing law would be exempt from local construction moratoriums under Craven's bill.
Not all bills seek to turn up the development dial
In response to complaints from local planners, one of the new bills, from Rep. Joseph Solomon Jr., D-Warwick, would scale back the inclusionary zoning program passed last year.
The law currently allows developments that have at least 25% income-restricted units to build more market-rate units than local zoning would normally allow.
Solomon's bill would allow these "density bonuses" for proposed developments with 15% affordable units, but the developer would get to add only one extra market-rate unit for each affordable unit instead of two extra market-rate units for each affordable unit.
"Because they felt a 2-for-1 bonus was too much too fast, they eliminated inclusionary zoning," Shekarchi said of local planners.
There would be a deadline for e-permitting
A bill sponsored by Shekarchi would require all cities and towns to adopt electronic permitting for "all development applications" by Oct. 1, 2025.
Shekarchi said he believed most, if not all towns, have moved to electronic permitting.
Other bills in the package would:
Have cities and towns compile and publish an annual list of abandoned properties. If an abandoned property is sold through receivership, buyers who would use it as affordable housing would be given priority.
Allow cities and towns to combined their planning zoning boards to speed permitting and limit the number of local volunteers needed for the jobs
Streamline the process of appeals under the state building code
Form a study commission to look at creating an educational program for planners
Prevent municipalities from overriding state wetlands permitting decisions
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: This year's housing bill package will dramatically change home building in RI
