(a)  In calculating the number of year-round housing units towards meeting the goals of an excess of ten percent (10%) of the year-round housing units consistent with local needs required pursuant to § 45-53-4, rental units in multi-family housing built after June 30, 2022, may be included as low- or moderate-income housing, in accordance with the following conditions:

(1)  At least thirty percent (30%) of the units created are deed restricted for households earning not more than sixty percent (60%) of the area median income, adjusted for household size; or

(2)  At least fifty percent (50%) of the units created are deed restricted for households earning not more than eighty percent (80%) of the area median income, adjusted for household size; and

(3)  The proposed affordable units meet all other requirements of this chapter to be calculated as low- or moderate-income housing; and

(4)  All non-deed restricted units developed under the same comprehensive permit shall be included in the low- and moderate-income housing inventory as one-half (0.5) units each.

lawyer at desk

Ask a legal question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 45-53-3.1

  • Consistent with local needs: means reasonable in view of the state need for low- and moderate-income housing, considered with the number of low-income persons in the city or town affected and the need to protect the health and safety of the occupants of the proposed housing or of the residents of the city or town, to promote better site and building design in relation to the surroundings, or to preserve open spaces, and if the local zoning or land use ordinances, requirements, and regulations are applied as equally as possible to both subsidized and unsubsidized housing. See Rhode Island General Laws 45-53-3
  • Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
  • Low- or moderate-income housing: means any housing whether built or operated by any public agency or any nonprofit organization or by any limited equity housing cooperative or any private developer, that is subsidized by a federal, state, or municipal government subsidy under any program to assist the construction or rehabilitation of housing affordable to low- or moderate-income households, as defined in the applicable federal or state statute, or local ordinance and that will remain affordable through a land lease and/or deed restriction for ninety-nine (99) years or such other period that is either agreed to by the applicant and town or prescribed by the federal, state, or municipal government subsidy program but that is not less than thirty (30) years from initial occupancy. See Rhode Island General Laws 45-53-3

(b)  As used in this section and as applied to this chapter:

(1)  “Area median income (AMI)” means area median household income as defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, adjusted for household size.

(2)  “Multi-family housing” means a building with three (3) or more residential dwelling units or two (2) or more buildings on the same lot with more than one residential dwelling unit in each building.

History of Section.
P.L. 2022, ch. 386, § 2, effective June 30, 2022; P.L. 2022, ch. 387, § 2, effective June 30, 2022.