Shekarchi unveils 14-piece housing legislation package

R.I. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi on Thursday presents a 14-piece legislative package intended to ease the state's affordable housing crisis. / COURTESY CAPITOL TELEVISION

PROVIDENCE – Streamlined permitting processes, incentives for developers to offer affordable housing units, a transit-oriented development pilot program and the elimination of rental application fees were among changes proposed in a 14-bill legislation package introduced on Thursday afternoon.

The package, presented by R.I. House of Representatives Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi,  D-Warwick, proposes the following changes:

  • Amend a three-step hearing process for housing developments to two steps. 
  • Standardize permitting processes throughout the state’s cities and towns. 
  • Prohibit communities from using out-of-date comprehensive plans (meaning they have not been updated in the past decade) to justify a project denial. 
  • Establish a transit-oriented development pilot program, which would incentivize high-density development around train and bus hubs. 
  • Remove rezoning requirements on adaptive reuse projects, such as the redevelopment of abandoned hospitals, factories, mills and churches into residential housing. 
  • Eliminate the State Housing Appeals Board, an intermediate body in the appeals process. If removed, projects approved at local hearings would go directly to Superior Court for final approval. 
  • Create a housing and land-use calendar in Superior Court, with the intention of expediting the appeals process. 
  • Establish a density bonus for developers of affordable housing, tentatively set at 30%. 
  • Eliminate rental application fees for tenants. 
  • Allow public hearing notices by first-class mail (relaxed from certified mail requirements). 
  • Extend the Special Legislative Commission to Study Rhode Island’s Low and Moderate Income Housing Act and the Special Legislative Commission to Study the Entire Area of Land Use, Preservation, Development, Housing, Environment, and Regulation for another two years. 

“As everyone knows, we are experiencing a housing crisis in Rhode Island,” Shekarchi said, “and it’s a homelessness crisis as well. Our state simply does not have enough housing,” particularly for those most in need of affordable options.  

Throughout the presentation, Shekarchi heavily emphasized that none of the bills would force cities and towns to allow a housing development project, but they would streamline and standardize the process throughout the state while providing more incentives for developers to pursue affordable housing units.

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Currently, Shekarchi said, Rhode Island is losing residential developers to Massachusetts and Connecticut due to red tape in Rhode Island’s permitting process. 

If approved, all but one bill would go into effect on Jan. 1, 2024.

One bill that would take effect immediately upon passage pertains to accessory dwelling units to spur production of ADUs, including as a home for populations unable to find suitable affordable housing such as seniors and college/professional school graduates; making clear what ADUs are allowed by right and how they are considered in the local permitting process; and specifying that ADUs cannot be used for short-term/transient use.

The legislative package is the third brought forward by House leadership in the past three years as part of an ongoing attempt to combat the state’s housing crisis.

Shekarchi said he is also looking into the possibility of establishing a first-in-the-nation pilot program that would establish a revolving fund for state-sponsored mixed-use, affordable and market-rate housing, though this idea is still in its early stages.

Jacquelyn Voghel is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Voghel@PBN.com.

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