Home Economy Government Shekarchi unveils latest housing package

Shekarchi unveils latest housing package

By

Christopher Allen

-

02/27/2025

K. Joseph Shekarchi — HOUSE SPEAKER K. JOSEPH SHEKARCHI announces his latest legislative package to address the state's housing crisis during a Statehouse press conference on Feb. 27. / PBN SCREENSHOT

PROVIDENCE – House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi on Thursday announced a new package of legislation being filed to spur housing development and streamline the regulatory approval process on the state and municipal level. Joined by elected officials and members of the administration during a press conference Thursday in the House lounge, Shekarchi said state leaders

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PROVIDENCE – House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi on Thursday announced a new package of legislation being filed to spur housing development and streamline the regulatory approval process on the state and municipal level. Joined by elected officials and members of the administration during a press conference Thursday in the House lounge, Shekarchi said state leaders are “still chipping away at the barriers that have made development in Rhode Island more costly and more cumbersome than necessary.” Despite it being three decades since passage of the Low and Moderate Income Housing Act mandating that 10% of a municipality's housing stock qualify as affordable, Shekarchi said “too many communities have become more and more restrictive. “Some have reached that threshold. But some don't even want to try. And those communities are the ones we are trying to bring along," he said. Though there have been nearly 50 housing-related bills signed into law since 2021, Shekarchi said more legislation is required to address skyrocketing prices and a lack of inventory. Some of the bills included in this latest slew of legislation are amendments and technical tweaks to recently passed housing laws. Now going before the legislature is a bill to amend the state building code by centralizing the duties of the various state officials, commissions and boards related to building and fire code permitting. There is also a bill that expands electronic permitting for building permits by requiring that applications to the R.I. Department of Environmental Management, R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council, and R.I. Department of Transportation are utilized through the e-permitting portal by October 2026. Additionally, Rhode Island’s Adaptive Reuse law would be clarified to encourage conversions of underutilized or vacant commercial buildings, a proposal to spur the development of vacant state-owned properties, and legislation requested by the Rhode Island League of Cities and Towns would allow an exemption of new housing from the 4% local annual maximum tax levy under certain conditions, such as approval by the municipality and the inclusion of affordable units. Randy R. Rossi, executive director and president of Rhode Island League of Cities and Towns, said the organization would be reviewing the bills and supports any legislation that enables municipalities to reform local zoning and land use laws rather than issuing comprehensive mandates from the Statehouse, which "allows us the flexibility in our communities to hear from the residents.” Shekarchi promised to introduce more housing bills before the end of the current legislative session but said he remained "hopeful" there would not be a need to create penalties for municipalities that refuse to comply with any laws meant to increase housing density. “Working families should be able to live in the communities where they work," he said. Rep. June S. Speakman, D-Warren, who chairs the Special Legislative Commission to Affordable Housing, said the package represents “more pieces of the puzzle” that will “take us further down the road to addressing the crisis by streamlining approval processes and encouraging more flexible uses of our land and existing structures. “We all know that the housing crisis is ongoing. Homes are too expensive and rents are too high,” she said. “New families can’t find starter homes. Seniors can’t find apartments they can afford, and the needs of the homeless remain unmet.” Other proposals in the package include:

Allowing purchasers to rely on the zoning opinions issued by local officials when obtaining a zoning certificate.
Allowing municipalities to include village or mixed-use zoning options that allow residential use in some or all areas of their commercial zoning districts.
Allowing municipalities to allow residential uses other than single-family units in the areas where public water and sewer are available.
Allowing the subdivision of oversized lots if the resulting lots are equal or greater than the lots in the immediate area.
Enabling municipalities to include co-housing arrangements similar to dorms with common spaces, amenities and facilities so long as residents have separate private bedrooms.

Christopher Allen is a PBN staff writer. You may contact him at Allen@PBN.com.