Rhode Island Assembly Passes Affordable Housing Moratorium
Last week, the Rhode Island General Assembly passed a one-year moratorium on streamlined affordable housing construction permitting for for-profit developers. Gov. Donald Carcieri (R) is expected to sign the bill (S.B. 2139) into law.

The moratorium follows a change in the state’s affordable housing law that gave private developers the opportunity to apply for comprehensive permits for development where at least 10 or 15 percent of the units would be affordable. Developers could bypass local planning boards and take one comprehensive application to the town’s zoning board for an expedited review. If rejected, the developer could bring the application to the State Housing Appeals Board.

This incentive, adopted in 2002, was previously available only to not-for-profit builders.

The law was extremely successful, resulting in a barrage of applications in small towns whose zoning could not accommodate the new development. City and state officials have discussed amending the law for nearly a year.

The moratorium stops until January 31, 2005 all for-profit affordable housing plans not already approved.

In letters sent to Gov. Carcieri, House Speaker William Murphy and Senate President Joseph Montalbano, NAHB President Bobby Rayburn expressed his concern over the legislation and called the proposed moratorium “unnecessarily severe and counterproductive.” [ return to top ]