Want to live with 3 other people in Narragansett? The Town Council wants to make it harder.

NARRAGANSETT − Town government has taken its first steps toward further limiting the number of people who can live together in a single house.

The Town Council gave first passage to an ordinance that would decrease the number of "unrelated" people who live in a residence from four down to three.

The ordinance passed 3-to-1, with Susan Cicilline-Buonanno voting against and Deborah Kopech abstaining, according to the minutes.

The reduction from four to three people is meant to mirror the town's policy limiting the number of college students who can live together in a house, Town Solicitor Mark Davis said during the meeting.

"For consistency and enforcement purposes, and for the reasons provided in the adoption of the 'three college student' ordinance, it is prudent to reduce the number of unrelated persons in a dwelling from four to three," Town Solicitor Mark Davis wrote in a memo to the Town Council.

While Narragansett's policy limiting the number of students who can live in a house to three has been struck down multiple times in court, the last time for not properly allowing public comment, the council passed the limitation again in July.

Planning Board opposed the new limit

The town's Planning Board opposed the reduction in household size of unrelated individuals and expressed doubt that somehow changing the limit would increase the number of houses available to families.

"The board found no distinct rationale to reduce the household limitation over increasing the college student limitation to meet the equal protection clause of the state Constitution," the Planning Board wrote in its recommendation.

Who counts as related?

The state's zoning enabling law explicitly allows cities and towns to set a limit on the number of unrelated people who are allowed to live together, at a minimum of three.

Under state law, households are either defined as a "family," which includes servants and employees living with a family, or as a group of unrelated people living together.

Family members, in state law, are defined as those related by "blood, marriage, or other legal means." That includes children and parents, spouses, mother- and father-in-laws, grandparents, grandchildren, domestic partners, siblings, and "care recipients." Foster children are not included in the state's definition.

Targeting renters in the hopes of getting more year-round families

The opposition to the ordinance was made up of "property owners that are renting single-family homes," council President Ewa Dzwierzynski said during the meeting.

"As you know, we all say they're very lucrative businesses and then they're in single family neighborhoods," Dzwierzynski said. "The three unrelated ordinance will ... not impact any landlords or property owners who are renting properties to families, and that's what we want, more year-round families living in our neighborhood."

Most of Narragansett's housing stock, 84%, is single-family homes, as those are the only types of housing allowed to be built within town limits. In 2022, there were seven single-family building permits taken out and no multi-family building permits, according to the 2023 HousingWorksRI Housing Fact Book.

The new ordinance would make it less desirable for "investors" to buy houses and therefore keep them "more affordable," Dzwierzynski said.

Contrary to Dzwierzynski's position, the ordinance would create more housing demand in the town by reducing the maximum density, removing 400 beds from the town's available rental inventory, "thus increasing costs and pressure on the remaining housing inventory," according to the Planning Board's recommendation. The Planning Board recommendation did not examine what the impact might be on owner-occupied properties.

While the Town Council wants to target landlords and renters, the ordinance should, in theory, impact everyone who lives in the town, as even homeowners would not be allowed to live with more than two unrelated people.

George Nonis, who opposed the ordinance, said there is no reason the town should prevent people from living together.

"Approval of this ordinance will mean four friends, four teachers, four nuns, two unmarried couples, can no longer rent a vacation home in Narragansett," he said.

Would the state law need to be repealed?

The limit on how many people can live together probably can't be challenged in court, Rhode Island American Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Steve Brown said. The ACLU took Providence to court over its ban on more than three students living together, which the Rhode Island Supreme Court upheld.

That does not mean the ordinance, or the 1991 state law allowing for the limits, is right, Brown said.

"Our concern is, we don't think there's a legitimate reason for municipalities to tell people who can live together based solely on familial status," he said.

'Lack of good faith:' Narragansett proposes sidestepping new state housing requirements.

The family definition in state law is based on institutions like marriage and adoption that, until very recently, discriminated against members of the LGBTQ community

"There's no logical reason to single people out where they live because of whom they live with, based solely on these traditional family ties," Brown said.

The proposed ordinance will also exacerbate the housing crisis.

"It does the opposite of what municipalities should be trying to do," he said.

Limits on the number of occupants is widespread across Rhode Island

Limits on the number of unrelated people who can live together is widespread throughout the state.

The state-mandated minimum is the law in 20 cities and towns, while one community caps it at six and two have no maximum household size, according to the Planning Board's recommendation.

Between 1987 and 2016, Narragansett's limit was three unrelated people per household.

Narragansett passes ordinance to circumvent state housing law

The Narragansett Town Council also passed an ordinance, 4-to-1, to thwart the state's new zoning rules that make it a little easier for builders to request up to a 15% relief from setbacks, which House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi previously said could open the town to legal liability. The town increased all of its setback requirements by 15%. Cicilline-Buonanno voted against the changes.

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Reporter Patrick Anderson contributed to this report. Reach reporter Wheeler Cowperthwaite at wcowperthwaite@providencejournal.com or follow him on Twitter @WheelerReporter.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Narragansett moves to restrict number of unrelated people who can live together