(a)  Whenever, in order to move a building to be used as affordable housing for low- and moderate-income persons for a period of not less than ten (10) years, a nonprofit housing development corporation desires that the pipes, mains, poles, wires, conduits, or fixtures of a public utility be cut, disconnected, or removed, the public utility shall cut, disconnect, or remove the same at its own expense.

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Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 39-2-15.1

  • Commission: means the public utilities commission. See Rhode Island General Laws 39-1-2
  • Company: means and includes a person, firm, partnership, corporation, quasi-municipal corporation, association, joint-stock association or company, and his, her, its, or their lessees, trustees, or receivers appointed by any court. See Rhode Island General Laws 39-1-2
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Nonprofit housing development corporation: means a nonprofit corporation that has been approved as a Rhode Island General Laws 39-1-2
  • Public utility: means and includes every company that is an electric distribution company and every company operating or doing business in intrastate commerce and in this state as a railroad, street railway, common carrier, gas, liquefied natural gas, water, telephone, telegraph, and pipeline company, and every company owning, leasing, maintaining, managing, or controlling any plant or equipment, or any part of any plant or equipment, within this state for manufacturing, producing, transmitting, distributing, delivering, or furnishing natural or manufactured gas, directly or indirectly, to or for the public, or any cars or equipment employed on, or in connection with, any railroad or street railway for public or general use within this state, or any pipes, mains, poles, wires, conduits, fixtures, through, over, across, under, or along any public highways, parkways, or streets, public lands, waters, or parks for the transmission, transportation, or distribution of gas for sale to the public for light, heat, cooling, or power for providing audio or visual telephonic or telegraphic communication service within this state, or any pond, lake, reservoir, stream, well, or distributing plant or system employed for the distribution of water to the consuming public within this state, including the water supply board of the city of Providence; provided, that, except as provided in § 39-16-9 and in P. See Rhode Island General Laws 39-1-2

(b)  A nonprofit housing development corporation that desires the cutting, disconnection, or removal of mains, poles, conduits, wires, or fixtures of a public utility shall give written notification thereof to the commission and the utility company. The written notification must contain the location of the site where the structure is presently located; the location of the final destination of the structure; the path of the proposed move, described in reference to the crossings of streets or highways; and the date of the required cutting, disconnection, or removal.

(c)  Upon receipt of the written notification described in subsection (b), the commission shall promptly determine whether the applicant is a nonprofit housing development corporation within the meaning of this chapter, and shall also determine whether the structure to be moved will be maintained as affordable housing for a period of not less than ten (10) years. A resolution, issued by the board of directors of the nonprofit housing development corporation and recorded at the land records office of the locality to where the structure is to be moved, stating that the structure will be used as affordable housing for a period of not less than ten (10) years, shall be satisfactory evidence that the requirements of this section have been satisfied. If the commission determines that the applicant satisfies the requirements of this section, it shall give notice thereof to the public utilities and require the applicant to coordinate its building move with the path(s), date(s), and time(s) as determined by the public utilities; however, the date(s), and time(s) shall be no later than thirty (30) days from the date the public utilities have received notice of the commission’s determination.

(d)  If, at any time during the ten-year (10) period following the cutting, disconnection, or removal of the pipes, mains, poles, wires, conduits, or fixtures of a public utility, the nonprofit housing development corporation shall utilize the structure for any purpose other than affordable housing, the nonprofit housing development corporation shall reimburse the public utility for the cost of the cutting, disconnection, or removal of the same.

History of Section.
P.L. 1988, ch. 580, § 3.