It’s only been a month since the General Assembly’s opening day, so it’s still too early to tell what bills impacting the state’s real estate and construction industries will be offered up. But local industry members report a few perennial issues are likely to generate debate this legislative session. Two issues that could be tackled by the General Assembly: wetlands protection and construction impact fees.
“It’s a little early,” said Susan Arnold, executive director of the Rhode Island Association of Realtors.
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She agreed, however, that the wetlands bill, which was not passed in previous sessions, will be resubmitted and there could be some movement afoot to deal with communities proposing construction impact fees.
The RIAR typically takes positions on anywhere from 100 to 200 bills each year, although it takes weeks of studying proposals to determine which ones to sound off on, she said. Arnold is also the chief lobbyist for the Greater Providence Board of Realtors.
The new legislative session officially started on Jan. 5. Information on the General Assembly’s Web site indicates Feb. 2 is the deadline for introducing public bills in the state House of Representatives and Feb. 4 is the deadline in the state Senate.
The wetlands bill proposes to give the Department of Environmental Management more discretion to allow some building on the borders of protected wetlands, whether it be a swamp, bog or river.
The Rhode Island Builders Association has supported the proposal, according to Executive Director Roger Warren.
“It seems like it’s such old news,” said Fred Schick, a North Kingstown builder-developer who served on the commission. “We concluded our work probably three legislative sessions ago, (and) we came up with what we considered a consensus bill.”
Schick is a former president of the Builders Association and owns Heritage Homes Inc. in North Kingstown.
The consensus bill was formed, he said, by representatives from the DEM, a variety of environmental groups and builders groups. “We were very surprised the legislation didn’t pass,” he added.
Schick said he suspects, however, the bill will be presented to the General Assembly again, “maybe with some slight amendments.
“Right now you can’t build on wetlands and you won’t be able to if in fact the new law is passed,” he explained. The proposal would let some limited development take place on the perimeter, if the DEM approved.
And it looks like last year’s hot button issue of construction impact fees, which were proposed by several communities experiencing high volumes of new building, will be back.
Schick is now on a panel, appointed by the General Assembly, charged with establishing guidelines for individual communities that want to propose such fees. The fees, according to town officials, would be used to offset the cost of expanding capital services, such as public schools and police and fire protection.
Though the proposal didn’t make it out of committee, “it was a lively issue,” Arnold said. “Obviously it’s a way of slowing growth and it’s a revenue generating mechanism.”
The General Assembly commission is supposed to research how the fees are calculated and how they would be used, Warren explained. “They want to determine what is a reasonable charge beyond what your taxes pay,” he said.
