| Chapter 223 |
| 2022 -- S 2621 SUBSTITUTE A AS AMENDED Enacted 06/30/2022 |
| A N A C T |
| RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- RHODE ISLAND HOUSING RESOURCES ACT OF 1998 |
Introduced By: Senators Sosnowski, and DiMario |
| Date Introduced: March 10, 2022 |
| It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: |
| SECTION 1. Section 42-128-8.1 of the General Laws in Chapter 42-128 entitled "Rhode |
| Island Housing Resources Act of 1998" is hereby amended to read as follows: |
| 42-128-8.1. Housing production and rehabilitation. |
| (a) Short title. This section shall be known and may be cited as the "Comprehensive |
| Housing Production and Rehabilitation Act of 2004." |
| (b) Findings. The general assembly finds and declares that: |
| (1) The state must maintain a comprehensive housing strategy applicable to all cities and |
| towns that addresses the housing needs of different populations including, but not limited to, |
| workers and their families who earn less than one hundred twenty percent (120%) of median |
| income, older citizens, students attending institutions of higher education, low- and very-low |
| income individuals and families, and vulnerable populations including, but not limited to, persons |
| with disabilities, homeless individuals and families, and individuals released from correctional |
| institutions. |
| (2) Efforts and programs to increase the production of housing must be sensitive to the |
| distinctive characteristics of cities and towns, neighborhoods, and areas and the need to manage |
| growth and to pace and phase development, especially in high-growth areas. |
| (3) The state in partnership with local communities must remove barriers to housing |
| development and update and maintain zoning and building regulations to facilitate the construction, |
| rehabilitation of properties and retrofitting of buildings for use as safe affordable housing. |
| (4) Creative funding mechanisms are needed at the local and state levels that provide |
| additional resources for housing development, because there is an inadequate amount of federal |
| and state subsidies to support the affordable housing needs of Rhode Island's current and projected |
| population. |
| (5) Innovative community planning tools, including, but not limited to, density bonuses |
| and permitted accessory dwelling units, are needed to offset escalating land costs and project |
| financing costs that contribute to the overall cost of housing and tend to restrict the development |
| and preservation of housing affordable to very low-income, low-income, and moderate-income |
| persons. |
| (6) The gap between the annual increase in personal income and the annual increase in the |
| median sales price of a single-family home is growing, therefore, the construction, rehabilitation |
| and maintenance of affordable, multi-family housing needs to increase to provide more rental |
| housing options to individuals and families, especially those who are unable to afford |
| homeownership of a single-family home. |
| (7) The state needs to foster the formation of cooperative partnerships between |
| communities and institutions of higher education to significantly increase the amount of residential |
| housing options for students. |
| (8) The production of housing for older citizens as well as urban populations must keep |
| pace with the next twenty-year (20) projected increases in those populations of the state. |
| (9) Efforts must be made to balance the needs of Rhode Island residents with the ability of |
| the residents of surrounding states to enter into Rhode Island's housing market with much higher |
| annual incomes at their disposal. |
| (c) Strategic plan. The commission, in conjunction with the statewide planning program, |
| shall develop by July 1, 2006, a five-(5) year (5) strategic plan for housing, which plan shall be |
| adopted as an element of the state guide plan, and which shall include quantified goals, measurable |
| intermediate steps toward the accomplishment of the goals, implementation activities, and |
| standards for the production and/or rehabilitation of year-round housing to meet the housing needs |
| including, but not limited to, the following: |
| (1) Older Rhode Islanders, including senior citizens, appropriate, affordable housing |
| options; |
| (2) Workers, housing affordable at their income level; |
| (3) Students, dormitory, student housing and other residential options; |
| (4) Low-income and very-low income households, rental housing; |
| (5) Persons with disabilities, appropriate housing; and |
| (6) Vulnerable individuals and families, permanent housing, single-room occupancy units, |
| transitional housing and shelters. |
| (d) As used in this section and for the purposes of the preparation of affordable housing |
| plans as specified in chapter 45-22.2 22.2 of title 45, words and terms shall have the meaning set |
| forth in chapter 45-22.2 22.2 of title 45, chapter 45-53 53 of title 45, and/or § 42-11-10, unless this |
| section provides a different meaning or unless the context indicates a different meaning or intent. |
| (1) "Affordable housing" means residential housing that has a sales price or rental amount |
| that is within the means of a household that is moderate income or less. In the case of dwelling |
| units for sale, housing that is affordable means housing in which principal, interest, taxes, which |
| may be adjusted by state and local programs for property tax relief, and insurance constitute no |
| more than thirty percent (30%) of the gross household income for a household with less than one |
| hundred and twenty percent (120%) of area median income, adjusted for family size. Provided, |
| however, that exclusively for the residents of New Shoreham, their affordable housing eligibility |
| standards shall include households whose adjusted gross income is less than one hundred forty |
| percent (140%) of their residents' median income, adjusted for family size. In the case of dwelling |
| units for rent, housing that is affordable means housing for which the rent, heat, and utilities other |
| than telephone constitute no more than thirty percent (30%) of the gross annual household income |
| for a household with eighty percent (80%) or less of area median income, adjusted for family size. |
| Affordable housing shall include all types of year-round housing, including, but not limited to,: |
| manufactured housing,; housing originally constructed for workers and their families,; accessory |
| dwelling units,; housing accepting rental vouchers and/or tenant-based certificates under Section 8 |
| of the United States Housing Act of 1937, as amended,; and assisted living housing, where the sales |
| or rental amount of such housing, adjusted for any federal, state, or municipal government subsidy, |
| is less than or equal to thirty percent (30%) of the gross household income of the low and/or |
| moderate income occupants of the housing. |
| (i) In that New Shoreham has reached its ten percent (10%) low- and moderate-income |
| housing goal, and for so long as they maintain at least ten percent (10%) of their year-round housing |
| stock as low- and moderate-income housing as defined in § 45-53-3(4)(ii), and inasmuch as there |
| are provable economic impacts related to the municipalities’ substantial offshore location, |
| residential housing units produced for sale in which principal, interest, taxes, which may be |
| adjusted by state and local programs for property tax relief, and insurance constitute no more than |
| thirty percent (30%) of the gross household income for a household with less than one hundred |
| forty percent (140%) of the area median income, adjusted for family size, shall be counted towards |
| the municipalities low- and moderate-income housing inventory as defined in § 45-53-3(9). |
| (2) "Affordable housing plan" means a plan prepared and adopted by a town or city either |
| to meet the requirements of chapter 45-53 53 of title 45 or to meet the requirements of § 45-22.2- |
| 10(f), which require that comprehensive plans and the elements thereof be revised to conform with |
| amendments to the state guide plan. |
| (3) "Approved affordable housing plan" means an affordable housing plan that has been |
| reviewed and approved in accordance with § 45-22.2-9. |
| (4) "Moderate-income household" means a single person, family, or unrelated persons |
| living together whose adjusted gross income is more than eighty percent (80%) but less than one |
| hundred twenty percent (120%) of the area median income, adjusted for family size. |
| (5) "Seasonal housing" means housing that is intended to be occupied during limited |
| portions of the year. |
| (6) "Year-round housing" means housing that is intended to be occupied by people as their |
| usual residence and/or vacant units that are intended by their owner for occupancy at all times of |
| the year; occupied rooms or suites of rooms in hotels are year-round housing only when occupied |
| by permanent residents as their usual place of residence. |
| (e) The strategic plan shall be updated and/or amended as necessary, but not less than once |
| every five (5) years. |
| (f) Upon the adoption of the strategic plan as an element of the state guide plan, towns and |
| cities shall bring their comprehensive plans into conformity with its requirements, in accordance |
| with the timetable set forth in § 45-22.2-10(f),; provided, however, that any town that has adopted |
| an affordable housing plan in order to comply with the provisions of chapter 45-53 53 of title 45, |
| which has been approved for consistency pursuant to § 45-22.2-9, shall be deemed to satisfy the |
| requirements of the strategic plan for low and moderate income housing until such time as the town |
| must complete its next required comprehensive community plan update. |
| (g) Guidelines. The commission shall advise the state planning council and the state |
| planning council shall promulgate and adopt not later than July 1, 2006, guidelines for higher |
| density development, including, but not limited to: (A) (1) inclusionary Inclusionary zoning |
| provisions for low- and moderate-income housing with appropriate density bonuses and other |
| subsidies that make the development financially feasible; and (B) (2) mixed Mixed-use |
| development that includes residential development, which guidelines shall take into account |
| infrastructure availability; soil type and land capacity; environmental protection; water supply |
| protection; and agricultural, open space, historical preservation, and community development |
| pattern constraints. |
| (h) The statewide planning program shall maintain a geographic information system map |
| that identifies, to the extent feasible, areas throughout the state suitable for higher density |
| residential development consistent with the guidelines adopted pursuant to subsection (g). |
| SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. |
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| LC005405/SUB A |
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