| Chapter 155 |
| 2025 -- H 6067 SUBSTITUTE A Enacted 06/24/2025 |
| A N A C T |
| RELATING TO TOWNS AND CITIES -- LOW AND MODERATE INCOME HOUSING |
Introduced By: Representatives Noret, Casimiro, Finkelman, Read, Fogarty, Corvese, Solomon, Spears, Bennett, and Fellela |
| Date Introduced: March 12, 2025 |
| It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: |
| SECTION 1. Section 45-53-10 of the General Laws in Chapter 45-53 entitled "Low and |
| Moderate Income Housing" is hereby amended to read as follows: |
| 45-53-10. Repurposing of vacant schools for affordable housing program. |
| (a) There is hereby established the repurposing of school buildings for an affordable |
| housing program (the “program”). The program shall be administered by the secretary of housing |
| as set forth herein. |
| (b) The purpose of the program shall be to provide guidance and assistance in the |
| repurposing of vacant and unused school buildings as identified and existing as of July 1 of each |
| year, commencing October 1, 2022. |
| (c) The department of elementary and secondary education (the “department”) shall, |
| commencing on October 1, 2022, on an annual basis, provide to the speaker of the house, the |
| president of the senate, and the secretary of housing a list of all school buildings that have been |
| abandoned or are no longer being used by a school district. |
| (d)(1) In the case of a municipality that has less than ten percent (10%) low- or moderate- |
| income housing as defined in § 45-53-3, the municipality shall provide the department with a |
| complete list of buildings abandoned or no longer being used by the school district for the purposes |
| of conducting a feasibility assessment to repurpose the building as affordable housing. In the case |
| of a municipality that has greater than ten percent (10%) low- and moderate-income housing as |
| defined in § 45-53-3, the municipality may offer to the department a list of buildings abandoned or |
| no longer being utilized by the school district by an affirmative vote of a majority of both the |
| governing body of the school board and the municipality, and have voted to be willing to offer the |
| former school building for a feasibility assessment for use by the program. In the case of buildings |
| being abandoned or no longer used by a charter school that owns the school building in question, |
| an affirmative vote of the governing body of the charter school and/or mayoral academy shall be |
| required. Each municipality shall provide the department with a complete list of buildings |
| abandoned or no longer being used by the school district for the purposes of conducting a feasibility |
| assessment to repurpose the building as affordable housing. The department shall also include and |
| identify in the list those school buildings that the department anticipates will become abandoned or |
| no longer used by a school district within the next six (6) months following the issuance of the list. |
| (2) The secretary of housing shall convene a task force comprised of the Rhode Island |
| housing and mortgage finance corporation, the department of environmental management, the |
| department of health, and a fire marshal to develop assessment criteria to conduct preliminary |
| assessments to determine if a building may be repurposed into affordable housing. Once the |
| preliminary assessment criteria are established, the department of housing shall conduct an |
| assessment the assessments for each school on the vacant schools list, in conjunction with a task |
| force comprised of the Rhode Island housing and mortgage finance corporation, the department of |
| environmental management, the department of health, a fire marshal, the local building inspector, |
| and the local planning office, into its feasibility to be repurposed as affordable housing, and the |
| anticipated costs of renovating the building for that intended purpose. |
| (3) If the department of housing finds that the assessed building meets the preliminary |
| assessment criteria, the department may, contingent upon program funding, facilitate a feasibility |
| study to determine the anticipated costs to repurpose the building for affordable housing. This |
| assessment feasibility study shall be completed within one hundred and fifty (150) eighty (180) |
| days after being the department of housing has been notified by the task force of the availability of |
| a vacant building available pursuant to this section. |
| (3)(4) Once a building is determined by the task force department of housing to be |
| appropriate for repurposing as affordable housing, through a completed feasibility study, the office |
| of housing and community development department of housing, in collaboration with the respective |
| municipality, shall actively identify and may invite prospective developers to submit an application |
| to the program proposals for redevelopment of the site through a competitive process, with the goal |
| of repurposing the building into affordable housing. |
| (e) The office of housing and community development department of housing shall |
| maintain on its website a separate page related to the repurposing of buildings for the affordable |
| housing program. This website shall contain a listing of all buildings for which a feasibility |
| assessment was conducted and the outcome of the assessment, including a general statement of the |
| condition of the property, an estimate of the types of renovations, if any, that must be performed to |
| the property, a copy of the feasibility assessment study, and an estimate of the costs thereof. |
| Provided, it shall be made clear on the website that these are estimates to repurpose used buildings, |
| and that neither the state, the corporation, the division, the commission, or any instrumentality of |
| the state or of a municipality or school district shall be liable for any estimates that are incorrect. |
| (f) The office of housing and community development shall department of housing may |
| seek to assist and facilitate persons and developers who or that want to repurpose former buildings |
| as affordable housing. This assistance may include, but need not be limited to, technical and |
| financial assistance, all to assist in the repurposing of the school building. |
| (g) The Rhode Island department of education housing shall promulgate rules and |
| regulations for the implementation and enforcement of this section. |
| (h) The secretary of housing shall provide an annual report on or before December 31, |
| commencing with calendar year 2023, including, but not limited to, the number of schools that are |
| vacant and include a status report of any development and/or feasibility to repurpose a vacant |
| building. |
| (i) As used herein, the term “affordable housing” means housing that meets the definition |
| for low- or moderate-income housing in § 45-53-3. |
| SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. |
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| LC001354/SUB A |
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