2025 -- H 5798

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LC002158

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2025

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO TOWNS AND CITIES -- ZONING ORDINANCES

     Introduced By: Representatives Speakman, Tanzi, Alzate, Kislak, Spears, Dawson,
Furtado, Casey, Boylan, and Donovan

     Date Introduced: February 27, 2025

     Referred To: House Municipal Government & Housing

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Sections 45-24-33 and 45-24-37 of the General Laws in Chapter 45-24

entitled "Zoning Ordinances" are hereby amended to read as follows:

     45-24-33. Standard provisions.

     (a) A zoning ordinance shall address each of the purposes stated in § 45-24-30 and shall

address, through reasonable objective standards and criteria, the following general provisions

which are numbered for reference purposes only except as prohibited by § 45-24-30(b), § 45-24-

30(c), or § 45-24-30(d):

     (1) Permitting, prohibiting, limiting, and restricting the development of land and structures

in zoning districts, and regulating those land and structures according to their type and the nature

and extent of their use;

     (2) Regulating the nature and extent of the use of land for residential, commercial,

industrial, institutional, recreational, agricultural, open space, or other use or combination of uses,

as the need for land for those purposes is determined by the city or town’s comprehensive plan;

     (3) Permitting, prohibiting, limiting, and restricting buildings, structures, land uses, and

other development by performance standards, or other requirements, related to air and water and

groundwater quality, noise and glare, energy consumption, soil erosion and sedimentation, and/or

the availability and capacity of existing and planned public or private services;

     (4) Regulating within each district and designating requirements for:

     (i) The height, number of stories, and size of buildings;

     (ii) The dimensions, size, lot coverage, layout of lots or development areas and floor area

ratios provided that zoning ordinances must exclude any portion of a basement as defined in § 45-

24.3-5 from the calculation of floor area ratio;

     (iii) The density and intensity of use;

     (iv) Access to air and light, views, and solar access;

     (v) Open space, yards, courts, and buffers;

     (vi) Parking areas, road design, and, where appropriate, pedestrian, bicycle, and other

circulator systems;

     (vii) Landscaping, fencing, and lighting;

     (viii) Appropriate drainage requirements and methods to manage stormwater runoff;

     (ix) Public access to waterbodies, rivers, and streams; and

     (x) Other requirements in connection with any use of land or structure;

     (5) Permitting, prohibiting, limiting, and restricting development in flood plains or flood

hazard areas and designated significant natural areas;

     (6) Promoting the conservation of energy and promoting energy-efficient patterns of

development;

     (7) Providing for the protection of existing and planned public drinking water supplies,

their tributaries and watersheds, and the protection of Narragansett Bay, its tributaries and

watershed;

     (8) Providing for adequate, safe, and efficient transportation systems; and avoiding

congestion by relating types and levels of development to the capacity of the circulation system,

and maintaining a safe level of service of the system;

     (9) Providing for the preservation and enhancement of the recreational resources of the city

or town;

     (10) Promoting an economic climate that increases quality job opportunities and the overall

economic well-being of the city or town and the state;

     (11) Providing for pedestrian access to and between public and private facilities, including,

but not limited to, schools, employment centers, shopping areas, recreation areas, and residences;

     (12) Providing standards for, and requiring the provision of, adequate and properly

designed physical improvements, including plantings, and the proper maintenance of property;

     (13) Permitting, prohibiting, limiting, and restricting land use in areas where development

is deemed to create a hazard to the public health or safety;

     (14) Permitting, prohibiting, limiting, and restricting extractive industries and earth

removal and requiring restoration of land after these activities;

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     (15) Regulating sanitary landfill, except as otherwise provided by state statute;

     (16) Permitting, prohibiting, limiting, and restricting signs and billboards and other outdoor

advertising devices;

     (17) Designating airport hazard areas under the provisions of chapter 3 of title 1, and

enforcement of airport hazard area zoning regulations under the provisions established in that

chapter;

     (18) Designating areas of historic, cultural, and/or archaeological value and regulating

development in those areas under the provisions of chapter 24.1 of this title;

     (19) Providing standards and requirements for the regulation, review, and approval of any

proposed development in connection with those uses of land, buildings, or structures specifically

designated as subject to development plan review in a zoning ordinance;

     (20) Designating special protection areas for water supply and limiting or prohibiting

development in these areas, except as otherwise provided by state statute;

     (21) Specifying requirements for safe road access to developments from existing streets,

including limiting the number, design, and location of curb cuts, and provisions for internal

circulation systems for new developments, and provisions for pedestrian and bicycle ways;

     (22) Reducing unnecessary delay in approving or disapproving development applications

through provisions for preapplication conferences and other means;

     (23) Providing for the application of the Rhode Island Fair Housing Practices Act, chapter

37 of title 34, the United States Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 (FHAA); the Rhode Island

Civil Rights of People with Disabilities Act, chapter 87 of title 42; and the Americans with

Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq.; and

     (24) Regulating drive-through windows of varied intensity of use when associated with

land-use activities and providing standards and requirements for the regulation, review, and

approval of the drive-through windows, including, but not limited to:

     (i) Identifying within which zoning districts drive-through windows may be permitted,

prohibited, or permitted by special-use permit;

     (ii) Specifying requirements for adequate traffic circulation; and

     (iii) Providing for adequate pedestrian safety and access, including issues concerning safety

and access for those with disabilities.

     (25) Allowing the construction of attached single-family dwellings in designated zoning

districts. For purposes of this chapter, "attached single-family dwelling" means a dwelling unit

constructed side by side or horizontally and separated by a party wall and lot line. Such units shall

be allowed in designated zoning districts of the city or town, provided that:

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     (i) The unit(s) have access to public water and sewer, or have adequate access to private

water and/or wastewater systems approved by the relevant state agency; and

     (ii) The zoning ordinance shall allow each single-family unit to be located on its own lot,

without requirements for minimum lot size, lot width, lot frontage or lot depth and allow for a zero-

lot line setback along the common property line to accommodate the subdivision for these units;

provided that, the unit(s) comply with requirements for building and fire codes; and

     (iii) Other setbacks of the base zoning district shall apply to the outside perimeter property

lines of the development as a whole; and

     (iv) Cities and towns may establish additional standards for such units; provided that, such

standards do not restrict a dwelling to less than three (3) stories, restrict its floor area ratio to less

than one, limit the bedrooms to less than three (3), or require more than one off street parking space

for up to two (2) bedrooms, and two (2) off-street parking spaces for up to three (3) bedrooms.

     (b) A zoning ordinance may include special provisions for any or all of the following:

     (1) Authorizing development incentives, including, but not limited to, additional permitted

uses, increased development and density, or additional design or dimensional flexibility in

exchange for:

     (i) Increased open space;

     (ii) Increased housing choices;

     (iii) Traffic and pedestrian improvements;

     (iv) Public and/or private facilities; and/or

     (v) Other amenities as desired by the city or town and consistent with its comprehensive

plan. The provisions in the ordinance shall include maximum allowable densities of population

and/or intensities of use and shall indicate the type of improvements, amenities, and/or conditions.

Conditions may be made for donation in lieu of direct provisions for improvements or amenities;

     (2) Establishing a system for transfer of development rights within or between zoning

districts designated in the zoning ordinance; and

     (3) Regulating the development adjacent to designated scenic highways, scenic waterways,

major thoroughfares, public greenspaces, or other areas of special public investment or valuable

natural resources.

     (c) Slope of land shall not be excluded from the calculation of the buildable lot area or the

minimum lot size, or in the calculation of the number of buildable lots or units.

     (d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to restrict a municipality’s right, within state

and local regulations, to establish its own minimum lot size per zoning district in its town or city.

     45-24-37. General provisions — Permitted uses.

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     (a) The zoning ordinance shall provide a listing of all land uses and/or performance

standards for uses that are permitted within the zoning use districts of the municipality. The

ordinance may provide for a procedure under which a proposed land use that is not specifically

listed may be presented by the property owner to the zoning board of review or to a local official

or agency charged with administration and enforcement of the ordinance for an evaluation and

determination of whether the proposed use is of a similar type, character, and intensity as a listed

permitted use. Upon such determination, the proposed use may be considered to be a permitted use.

     (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the following uses are permitted

uses within all residential zoning use districts of a municipality and all industrial and commercial

zoning use districts except where residential use is prohibited for public health or safety reasons:

     (1) Households;

     (2) Community residences; and

     (3) Family daycare homes.

     (c) Any time a building or other structure used for residential purposes, or a portion of a

building containing residential units, is rendered uninhabitable by virtue of a casualty such as fire

or flood, the owner of the property is allowed to park, temporarily, mobile and manufactured home,

or homes, as the need may be, elsewhere upon the land, for use and occupancy of the former

occupants for a period of up to twelve (12) months, or until the building or structure is rehabilitated

and otherwise made fit for occupancy. The property owner, or a properly designated agent of the

owner, is only allowed to cause the mobile and manufactured home, or homes, to remain

temporarily upon the land by making timely application to the local building official for the

purposes of obtaining the necessary permits to repair or rebuild the structure.

     (d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, appropriate access for people with

disabilities to residential structures is allowed as a reasonable accommodation for any person(s)

residing, or intending to reside, in the residential structure.

     (e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, an accessory dwelling unit

(“ADU”) that meets the requirements of §§ 45-24-31 and 45-24-73(a) shall be a permitted use in

all residential zoning districts. An ADU that meets the requirements of §§ 45-24-31 and 45-24-

73(a) shall be permitted through an administrative building permit process only.

     (f) When used in this section the terms “people with disabilities” or “member, or members,

with disabilities” means a person(s) who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially

limits one or more major life activities, as defined in 42-87-1(5).

     (g) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, plant agriculture is a permitted

use within all zoning districts of a municipality, including all industrial and commercial zoning

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districts, except where prohibited for public health or safety reasons or the protection of wildlife

habitat.

     (h) Adaptive reuse. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, adaptive reuse

for the conversion of any commercial building, including offices, schools, religious facilities,

medical buildings, and malls into residential units or mixed-use developments which include the

development of at least fifty percent (50%) of the existing gross floor area into residential units,

shall be a permitted use and allowed by specific and objective provisions of a zoning ordinance,

except where such is prohibited by environmental land use restrictions recorded on the property by

the state of Rhode Island department of environmental management or the United States

Environmental Protection Agency preventing the conversion to residential use.

     (1) The specific zoning ordinance provisions for adaptive reuse shall exempt adaptive reuse

developments from off-street parking requirements of over one space per dwelling unit.

     (2) Density.

     (i) For projects that meet the following criteria, zoning ordinances shall allow for high

density development and shall not limit the density to less than fifteen (15) dwelling units per acre:

     (A) Where the project is limited to the existing footprint, except that the footprint is allowed

to be expanded to accommodate upgrades related to the building and fire codes and utilities; and

     (B) The development includes at least twenty percent (20%) low- and moderate-income

housing; and

     (C) The development has access to public sewer and water service or has access to adequate

private water, such as a well and and/or wastewater treatment system(s) approved by the relevant

state agency for the entire development as applicable.

     (ii) For all other adaptive reuse projects, the residential density permitted in the converted

structure shall be the maximum allowed that otherwise meets all standards of minimum housing

and has access to public sewer and water service or has access to adequate private water, such as a

well, and wastewater treatment system(s) approved by the relevant state agency for the entire

development, as applicable. The density proposed shall be determined to meet all public health and

safety standards.

     (3) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, for adaptive reuse projects,

existing building setbacks shall remain and shall be considered legal nonconforming, but no

additional encroachments shall be permitted into any nonconforming setback, unless otherwise

allowed by zoning ordinance or relief is granted by the applicable authority.

     (4) For adaptive reuse projects, notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, the

height of the existing structure, if it exceeds the maximum height of the zoning district, may remain

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and shall be considered legal nonconforming, and any rooftop construction shall be included within

the height exemption.

     (i) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, all towns and cities may allow

manufactured homes that comply with § 23-27.3-109.1.3 as a type of single-family home on any

lot zoned for single-family use. Such home shall comply with all dimensional requirements of a

single-family home in the district or seek relief for the same under the provisions of this chapter.

     (j) Attached single family dwellings. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter,

all towns and cities shall allow attached single-family units, as defined in § 45-24-33, in residential

districts which allow for the construction of two (2) or more units. The number of attached single

family units allowed and the dimensional requirements shall be the same as the corresponding

vertical construction density for the property and zoning district.

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect on January 1, 2026.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO TOWNS AND CITIES -- ZONING ORDINANCES

***

     This act would add the process of permitting the construction of attached single-family

dwellings in identified zoning districts as a factor that zoning ordinances must address.

     This act would take effect on January 1, 2026.

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