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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | 2023 -- S 0876 |
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| 6 | 6 | | ======== |
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| 7 | 7 | | LC002753 |
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| 8 | 8 | | ======== |
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| 9 | 9 | | S T A T E O F R H O D E I S L A N D |
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| 10 | 10 | | IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 11 | 11 | | JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023 |
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| 12 | 12 | | ____________ |
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| 13 | 13 | | |
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| 14 | 14 | | A N A C T |
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| 15 | 15 | | RELATING TO TOWNS AN D CITIES – ZONING ORDINANCES |
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| 16 | 16 | | Introduced By: Senators Gu, Kallman, Britto, and Tikoian |
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| 17 | 17 | | Date Introduced: March 30, 2023 |
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| 18 | 18 | | Referred To: Senate Housing & Municipal Government |
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| 19 | 19 | | |
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| 20 | 20 | | |
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| 21 | 21 | | It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: |
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| 22 | 22 | | SECTION 1. Section 45-24-46.1 of the General Laws in Chapter 45-24 entitled "Zoning 1 |
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| 23 | 23 | | Ordinances" is hereby amended to read as follows: 2 |
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| 24 | 24 | | 45-24-46.1. Inclusionary zoning. 3 |
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| 25 | 25 | | (a) A zoning ordinance requiring the inclusion of affordable housing as part of a 4 |
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| 26 | 26 | | development shall provide that the housing will be affordable housing, as defined in § 42-128-5 |
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| 27 | 27 | | 8.1(d)(1); that the affordable housing will be of comparable size and quality to the market-rate 6 |
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| 28 | 28 | | housing; that the affordable housing will constitute not less than ten percent (10%) of the total units 7 |
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| 29 | 29 | | in the development; and that the units will remain affordable for a period of not less than thirty-8 |
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| 30 | 30 | | years (30) from initial occupancy enforced through a land lease and/or deed restriction enforceable 9 |
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| 31 | 31 | | by the municipality and the state of Rhode Island. 10 |
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| 32 | 32 | | (b) A zoning ordinance that includes inclusionary zoning may provide that the affordable 11 |
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| 33 | 33 | | housing must be built on-site or utilize one or more alternative methods of production, including, 12 |
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| 34 | 34 | | but not limited to, off-site construction or rehabilitation, donation of land suitable for development 13 |
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| 35 | 35 | | of the required affordable units, and/or the payment of a fee in lieu of the construction or provision 14 |
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| 36 | 36 | | of affordable housing units. For all projects subject to inclusionary zoning, density bonuses and 15 |
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| 37 | 37 | | other incentives shall be established by the community and shall apply to offset differential costs 16 |
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| 38 | 38 | | of below-market units. 17 |
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| 39 | 39 | | (c) This fee in lieu of the construction or provision of affordable housing shall be the choice 18 |
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| 40 | 40 | | of the developer or builder applied on a per-unit basis and may be used for new developments, 19 |
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| 41 | 41 | | |
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| 42 | 42 | | |
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| 43 | 43 | | LC002753 - Page 2 of 4 |
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| 44 | 44 | | purchasing property and/or homes, rehabilitating properties, or any other manner that creates 1 |
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| 45 | 45 | | additional low-or-moderate income housing as defined in § 45-53-3(9). Notwithstanding anything 2 |
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| 46 | 46 | | to the contrary in this section, when the size of a development triggers a requirement in a zoning 3 |
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| 47 | 47 | | ordinance for one or more affordable housing units, the unit(s) shall be created. Payment of a fee 4 |
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| 48 | 48 | | in lieu of the construction or provision of affordable housing units is permissible only to pay for 5 |
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| 49 | 49 | | fractions of units (i.e. when only a fraction of one full unit is required or for fractions of units 6 |
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| 50 | 50 | | beyond one or more full units). 7 |
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| 51 | 51 | | (1) For In order to pay for a fraction of an affordable single-family homes and 8 |
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| 52 | 52 | | condominium units unit, the fraction will be multiplied by the per-unit fee for the development. 9 |
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| 53 | 53 | | The per-unit fee shall be the difference between the maximum affordable sales price for a family 10 |
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| 54 | 54 | | of four (4) earning eighty percent (80%) of the area median income as determined annually by the 11 |
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| 55 | 55 | | U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the average cost of developing a single 12 |
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| 56 | 56 | | unit of affordable housing. The average cost of developing a single unit of affordable housing shall 13 |
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| 57 | 57 | | be determined annually based on the average, per-unit development cost of affordable homes 14 |
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| 58 | 58 | | financed by Rhode Island housing over the previous three (3) years, excluding existing units that 15 |
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| 59 | 59 | | received preservation financing. 16 |
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| 60 | 60 | | (2) Notwithstanding subsection (c)(1) of this section, in no case shall the per-unit fee for 17 |
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| 61 | 61 | | affordable single family homes and condominium units be less than forty thousand dollars 18 |
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| 62 | 62 | | ($40,000). 19 |
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| 63 | 63 | | (d) The municipality shall deposit all in-lieu payments into restricted accounts that shall be 20 |
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| 64 | 64 | | allocated and spent only for the creation and development of affordable housing within the 21 |
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| 65 | 65 | | municipality serving individuals or families at or below eighty percent (80%) of the area median 22 |
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| 66 | 66 | | income. The municipality shall maintain a local affordable housing board to oversee the funds in 23 |
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| 67 | 67 | | the restricted accounts and shall allocate the funds within two (2) five (5) years. The municipality 24 |
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| 68 | 68 | | shall include in the housing element of their local comprehensive plan, if applicable, the process it 25 |
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| 69 | 69 | | will use to allocate the funds. 26 |
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| 70 | 70 | | (e) As an alternative to the provisions of subsection (d), the municipality may elect to 27 |
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| 71 | 71 | | transfer in-lieu payments promptly upon receipt or within the two-year (2) five-year (5) period after 28 |
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| 72 | 72 | | receipt to the housing resources commission, the Rhode Island department of housing, or Rhode 29 |
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| 73 | 73 | | Island housing for the purpose of developing affordable housing within that community. 30 |
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| 74 | 74 | | (f) Rhode Island housing shall report to the general assembly and the housing resources 31 |
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| 75 | 75 | | commission the amount of fees in lieu collected by community; the projects that were provided 32 |
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| 76 | 76 | | funding with the fees, the dollar amounts allocated to the projects and the number of units created. 33 |
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| 77 | 77 | | |
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| 78 | 78 | | |
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| 79 | 79 | | LC002753 - Page 3 of 4 |
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| 80 | 80 | | SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. 1 |
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| 82 | 82 | | LC002753 |
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| 85 | 85 | | |
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| 86 | 86 | | LC002753 - Page 4 of 4 |
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| 87 | 87 | | EXPLANATION |
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| 88 | 88 | | BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL |
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| 89 | 89 | | OF |
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| 90 | 90 | | A N A C T |
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| 91 | 91 | | RELATING TO TOWNS AN D CITIES – ZONING ORDINANCES |
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| 92 | 92 | | *** |
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| 93 | 93 | | This act would provide that affordable housing shall be of comparable size and quality to 1 |
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| 94 | 94 | | market-rate housing and further provide that when there is a requirement for one or more affordable 2 |
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| 95 | 95 | | housing units triggered by the size of a development, the units must be created. 3 |
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| 96 | 96 | | This act would take effect upon passage. 4 |
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| 98 | 98 | | LC002753 |
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