2026 -- S 2704 SUBSTITUTE A

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2026

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO PUBLIC PROPERTY AND WORKS -- ACQUISITION OF LAND

     Introduced By: Senators Gu, Bissaillon, McKenney, Murray, Burke, Mack, DiMario, and
Kallman

     Date Introduced: February 27, 2026

     Referred To: Senate Housing & Municipal Government

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Chapter 37-6 of the General Laws entitled "Acquisition of Land" is hereby

amended by adding thereto the following section:

     37-6-31. Designation as a special way.

     (a) For purposes of this section, the following terms shall be defined as follows:

     (1) "Special way" means an unimproved road or path, historically used for pedestrian or

horse-drawn vehicle travel, characterized by a narrow width, natural or dirt surface, limited

vehicular access, and recognized for its scenic, historic, or cultural significance.

     (b) A municipality may, by ordinance or regulation adopted after public hearing and by

majority vote of the city or town council, designate one or more special ways for the protection of

historic, scenic, recreational, or conservation corridors including, but not limited to, old roads, cart

paths, trails, or ways; provided that, a municipality may not designate special ways on state

property.

     (c) An ordinance or regulation adopted pursuant to this section may regulate, consistent

with chapter 24 of title 45 ("zoning ordinances") and chapter 22.2 of title 45 ("Rhode Island

comprehensive planning and land use act"), the use of the special way including, but not limited to,

reasonable limitations on the following activities related to the special way:

     (1) Widening and grading, except for the purpose of improving recreational access;

     (2) Paving;

     (3) Obstruction;

     (4) Vegetation removal except for ordinary maintenance or for the purpose of improving

recreational access;

     (5) Conversion to full vehicular roadway use; and

     (6) Interference with public access where public access rights lawfully exist, including, but

not limited to misleading signage.

     (d) A participating entity may define the boundaries of a special way to include the traveled

way and adjacent land, including an area extending up to twenty feet (20') on either side of the

centerline, as reasonably necessary to effectuate the purposes of the ordinance or regulation.

     (e) An ordinance or regulation may provide that residential, recreational, agricultural, or

open-space uses otherwise permitted in the underlying zoning district shall be allowed within a

special way and remains subject to applicable state law, including recreational use liability

protections.

     (f) An ordinance or regulation issued pursuant to this section shall allow continuation of

preexisting vehicular use of a special way.

     (g) Designation of a special way shall not be construed to:

     (1) Determine or adjudicate ownership of land or public or private rights-of-way;

     (2) Grant, extinguish, diminish, or expand any easement or property interest;

     (3) Constitute acceptance, layout, or discontinuance of a highway or town way; or

     (4) Authorize a municipality or state agency to compel public access where none otherwise

exists.

     (h) An ordinance or regulation shall provide that development or use within a special way

shall not block or prevent non-motorized travel, including walking, bicycling, or horseback riding

where public access rights lawfully exist, and such usage remains subject to applicable state law,

including recreational use liability protections.

     (i) An ordinance or regulation may prohibit or limit alteration of the width or surface

materials of a special way and may prohibit paving with impervious materials including, but not

limited to, bituminous concrete or asphalt, except where necessary for crossings, safety

improvements, or routine maintenance consistent with the purposes of designation.

     (j) An ordinance or regulation may regulate or prohibit vegetation removal, relocation or

alteration of stone walls, and the placement or construction of fences, walls structures, excavation,

fill or other obstructions within a special way and may require special permits for such activities,

except for routine maintenance or for the purpose of improving recreational access or lawful

preexisting nonconforming features, which may be maintained but not expanded.

     (k) A municipality may revert a special way designation in the same form and procedure

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provided for in subsection (c) of this section.

     SECTION 2. Section 24-6-1 of the General Laws in Chapter 24-6 entitled "Abandonment

by Towns" is hereby amended to read as follows:

     24-6-1. Order of abandonment — Reversion of title — Notice.

     (a) Whenever, by the judgment of the town council of any town, a highway or driftway in

the town, or any part of either, has ceased to be useful to the public, the town council of the town

is authorized so to declare it by an order or decree that shall be final and conclusive; and, thereupon,

the title of the land upon which the highway or driftway or part thereof existed shall revert to its

owner and the town shall be no longer liable to repair the highway or driftway; provided, however,

that the town council shall cause a sign to be placed at each end of the highway or driftway, having

thereon the words “Not a public highway,” and after the entry of the order or decree, shall also

cause a notice thereof to be published in a newspaper of general circulation, printed in English, at

least once each week for three (3) successive weeks in a newspaper circulated within the city or

town and a further and personal notice shall be served upon every owner of land abutting upon that

part of the highway or driftway that has been abandoned who is known to reside within this state.

Nothing contained in this chapter shall, in any manner, affect any private right-of-way over the land

so adjudged to be useless as a highway or driftway if the right had been acquired before the taking

of the land for a highway or driftway. Provided, however, that the town of Coventry and any

community with a population of not less than one hundred thousand (100,000), receiving a request

for the abandonment of a highway or driftway from an abutting property owner, may sell the

highway or driftway to the abutting owner at fair market value; and provided, further, that the town

of North Providence, upon receiving a request for the abandonment of a highway or driftway from

an abutting property owner may sell the highway or driftway to the abutting owner, at fair market

value; and provided further, that the town of New Shoreham, upon receiving a request for the

abandonment of a highway or driftway from an abutting property owner, may sell the highway or

driftway to the abutting owner at fair market value; and provided, further, that the town of

Barrington, upon receiving a request for the abandonment of a highway or driftway from an

abutting property owner, may sell the highway or driftway to the abutting owner at fair market

value; and provided, further, that the city of Cranston, upon receipt of a request for abandonment

of a highway or driftway within the city of Cranston, where the sale of the highway or driftway to

an abutting owner would result in the creation of a new lot that would be in compliance with the

minimum-area requirement for construction of a building that is a permitted use, may sell the

highway or driftway to the abutting owner at fair market value; and provided, further, that the city

of Warwick, upon receiving a request for the abandonment of a highway or driftway from an

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abutting property owner, may sell the highway or driftway to the abutting owner at fair market

value; and provided, further, that the town of Middletown, upon receiving a request for the

abandonment of a highway or driftway from an abutting property owner, may sell the highway or

driftway to the abutting owner at fair market value; and provided, further, that the town of

Cumberland, upon receiving a request for abandonment of a highway or driftway from an abutting

property owner, may sell the highway or driftway to the abutting owner at fair market value; and

provided, further, that the town of Narragansett, upon receiving a request for the abandonment of

a highway or driftway from an abutting property owner, may sell the highway or driftway to the

abutting owner at fair market value.

     (1) Provided that, no highway or driftway that provides public access to tidal, coastal, or

inland waters of the state, including the Narragansett Bay and its tributaries, shall be abandoned by

a municipality unless the municipality holds a public hearing and makes written findings of fact

establishing that the abandonment is necessitated by documented coastal hazard conditions,

including sea level rise, storm surge, erosion, or chronic flooding, rendering the highway or

driftway in whole or in part useless.

     (b) Provided, further, that nothing in this section shall apply to private ways regardless of

their use or maintenance thereof by any municipal corporation.

     (c) All abandonments must be recorded in land evidence records by the petitioner(s) in the

applicable municipality through the filing of an administrative subdivision in accordance with

chapter 23 of title 45. The newly created boundary lines shall be certified to a Class 1 measurement

specification pursuant to the rules and regulations promulgated by the Rhode Island board of

registration for professional land surveyors in accordance with chapter 8.1 of title 5.

     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 PUBLIC PROPERTY AND WORKS -- ACQUISITION OF LAND

***

     This act would provide a system for cities, towns and state agencies to designate certain

roads, paths and trails as special ways subject to restrictions on paving, widening and clearing.

Further, this act would provide that prior to a highway being determined abandoned by a city or

town council, a vote must be taken on whether to preserve a public easement.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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