2025 -- H 5958

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LC001474

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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, and Edwards

     Date Introduced: February 28, 2025

     Referred To: House Municipal Government & Housing

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Section 45-24-33 of the General Laws in Chapter 45-24 entitled "Zoning

Ordinances" is 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.

     (b) On or before July 31, all A zoning ordinance may shall 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

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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 Implementing mixed-use overlay districts, as

defined in § 45-24-78, superimposed over at least thirty percent (30%) of commercial zoning use

districts in which any of the following uses are permitted: retail, hotel/motel, office, medical or

dental office, or personal service establishment:

     (i) To alleviate administrative burdens for cities and towns, the department of housing shall

issue a guidance document, setting forth model ordinance language for mixed-use overlay districts

by December 31, 2025;

     (ii) In the event that a city or town fails to implement mixed-use overlay districts, as

required by this section, the uses set forth in § 45-24-78(b) shall be permitted by right in any

commercial zoning use district in which any retail, hotel/motel, office, medical or dental office, or

personal service establishment are a permitted use. The department of housing shall promulgate

regulations for determining if a city or town is in compliance with this section.

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

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

districts, designated in the zoning ordinance; and

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

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

city.

     SECTION 2. Chapter 45-24 of the General Laws entitled "Zoning Ordinances" is hereby

amended by adding thereto the following section:

     45-24-78. Mixed use overlay districts.

     (a) For the purposes of this section, a “mixed-use overlay district” is an overlay district

designed to promote complementary land uses, that promote both housing and economic

development, and which would not otherwise be possible under conventional zoning regulations,

that strictly separate commercial and residential land uses.

     (b) The following uses shall be permitted in a mixed-use overlay district by right, in

addition to any uses permitted in the underlying zoning use district:

     (1) Multifamily dwellings; and

     (2) Mixed-use, where residential dwelling units are one of the uses within the development,

building or tract.

     (c) A city or town may establish performance standards for development within a mixed-

use overlay district; provided that, the standards shall allow:

     (1) A building height of at least three (3) stories, at up to forty feet (40′);

     (2) A floor area ratio of no less than one;

     (3) Residential density of not less than one dwelling unit per one thousand two hundred

square feet (1,200 ft2) of lot area;

     (4) Dwelling units of any size; and

     (5) No more than one off-street parking space per dwelling unit, which parking may be

provided off-site through a shared parking arrangement.

     (d) A city or town may require that the ground floor of a multifamily development, within

a mixed-use overlay district be reserved for commercial use or be convertible to commercial use

by virtue of meeting specified design criteria.

     (e) No person shall have a valid claim for private nuisance in a mixed-use overlay district,

where evidence exists that the conditions giving rise to the claim pre-dated the ownership or

tenancy of the claimant at a property.

     SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO TOWNS AND CITIES -- ZONING ORDINANCES

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     Municipalities would be required to amend their zoning ordinances, to include special

listed provisions, which authorize development incentives to increase development density or

dimensional flexibility. The act would also identify several provisions to promote and regulate

commercial developments. Finally, it would identify uses that help development in mixed-use

overlap districts.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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