PUBLIC PROPERTY AND WORKS -- ACQUISITION OF LAND, the official text

H7776 2026 -- H 7776 ======== LC003967 ======== STATE OF RHODE ISLAND IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2026 ____________ A N A C T RELATING TO PUBLIC PROPERTY AND WORKS -- ACQUISITION OF LAND Introduced By: Representatives Cortvriend, McNamara, Kazarian, and Spears Date Introduced: February 12, 2026 Referred To: House Municipal Government & Housing It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: 1 SECTION 1. Chapter 37-6 of the General Laws entitled Acquisition of Land is hereby 2 amended by adding thereto the following section: 3 37-6-31. Designation as a special way. 4 (a) For purposes of this section, the following terms shall be defined as follows: 5 (1) “Participating entity” means a city, town, state agency, quasi-public agency, or 6 department. 7 (2) Special way means an unimproved road or path, historically used for pedestrian or 8 horse-drawn vehicle travel, characterized by a narrow width, natural or dirt surface, limited 9 vehicular access, and recognized for its scenic, historic, or cultural significance. 10 (b) Special ways shall be preserved in their natural condition, and shall be subject to 11 restrictions on paving, widening, and other development as provided in subsection (d) of this 12 section to maintain their unique character. 13 (c) Any participating entity may, by ordinance or regulation adopted after public hearing 14 and by majority vote of the city or town council and/or board or commission where applicable, 15 designate one or more special ways for the protection of historic, scenic, recreational, or 16 conservation corridors including, but not limited to, old roads, cart paths, trails, or ways, on state 17 or municipal property. 18 (d) An ordinance or regulation adopted pursuant to this section may regulate, consistent 19 with chapter 24 of title 45 ( zoning ordinances ) and chapter 22.2 of title 45 ( Rhode Island 1 comprehensive planning and land use act ), the use and access to the special way including, but not 2 limited to, reasonable limitations on the following activities related to the special way: 3 (1) Widening; 4 (2) Paving; 5 (3) Grading; 6 (4) Obstruction; 7 (5) Vegetation removal beyond ordinary maintenance; 8 (6) Conversion to full vehicular roadway use; and 9 (7) Interference with public access where public access rights lawfully exist. 10 (e) A participating entity may define the boundaries of a special way to include the traveled 11 way and adjacent land, including an area extending up to twenty feet (20 ) on either side of the 12 centerline, as reasonably necessary to effectuate the purposes of the ordinance or regulation. 13 (f) An ordinance or regulation may provide that residential, recreational, agricultural, or 14 open-space uses otherwise permitted in the underlying zoning district shall be allowed within a 15 special way; provided that, such use or development shall not result in new direct vehicular access 16 to the special way, and remains subject to applicable state law, including recreational use liability 17 protections. 18 (g)(1) A participating entity may restrict or prohibit new or expanded vehicular use of a 19 special way where reasonable alternative access exists and may condition or deny applications for 20 development or subdivision that would result in increased vehicular use of a special way, consistent 21 with applicable zoning and land development regulations. 22 (2) An ordinance or regulation issued pursuant to this section may allow continuation of 23 preexisting vehicular use of a special way and require special permits for any expansion or 24 intensification of such use. 25 (h) Designation of a special way shall not be construed to: 26 (1) Determine or adjudicate ownership of land or public or private rights-of-way; 27 (2) Grant, extinguish, diminish, or expand any easement or property interest; 28 (3) Constitute acceptance, layout, or discontinuance of a highway or town way; or 29 (4) Authorize a municipality or state agency to compel public access where none otherwise 30 exists. 31 (i) An ordinance or regulation may provide that development or use within a special way 32 shall not block or prevent non-motorized travel, including walking, bicycling, or horseback riding, 33 and may prohibit or limit alteration of the width or surface materials of a special way and may 34 prohibit paving with impervious materials including, but not limited to, bituminous concrete or LC003967 - Page 2 of 5 1 asphalt, except where necessary for crossings, safety improvements, or routine maintenance 2 consistent with the purposes of designation. 3 (j) An ordinance or regulation may regulate or prohibit vegetation removal, relocation or 4 alteration of stone walls, and the placement or construction of fences, walls structures, excavation, 5 fill or other obstructions within a special way and may require special permits for such activities, 6 except for routine maintenance or lawful preexisting nonconforming features, which may be 7 maintained but not expanded. 8 (k) Any participating entity may revert a special way designation in the same form and 9 procedure provided for in subsection (c) of this section. 10 SECTION 2. Section 24-6-1 of the General Laws in Chapter 24-6 entitled Abandonment 11 by Towns is hereby amended to read as follows: 12 24-6-1. Order of abandonment — Reversion of title — Notice. 13 (a) Whenever, by the judgment of the town council of any town, a highway or driftway in 14 the town, or any part of either, has ceased to be useful to the public, the town council of the town 15 is authorized so to declare it by an order or decree that shall be final and conclusive; and, thereupon, 16 the title of the land upon which the highway or driftway or part thereof existed shall revert to its 17 owner and the town shall be no longer liable to repair the highway or driftway; provided, however, 18 that the town council shall cause a sign to be placed at each end of the highway or driftway, having 19 thereon the words “Not a public highway,” and after the entry of the order or decree, shall also 20 cause a notice thereof to be published in a newspaper of general circulation, printed in English, at 21 least once each week for three (3) successive weeks in a newspaper circulated within the city or 22 town and a further and personal notice shall be served upon every owner of land abutting upon that 23 part of the highway or driftway that has been abandoned who is known to reside within this state. 24 Nothing contained in this chapter shall, in any manner, affect any private right-of-way over the land 25 so adjudged to be useless as a highway or driftway if the right had been acquired before the taking 26 of the land for a highway or driftway. Provided, however, that the town of Coventry and any 27 community with a population of not less than one hundred thousand (100,000), receiving a request 28 for the abandonment of a highway or driftway from an abutting property owner, may sell the 29 highway or driftway to the abutting owner at fair market value; and provided, further, that the town 30 of North Providence, upon receiving a request for the abandonment of a highway or driftway from 31 an abutting property owner may sell the highway or driftway to the abutting owner, at fair market 32 value; and provided further, that the town of New Shoreham, upon receiving a request for the 33 abandonment of a highway or driftway from an abutting property owner, may sell the highway or 34 driftway to the abutting owner at fair market value; and provided, further, that the town of LC003967 - Page 3 of 5 1 Barrington, upon receiving a request for the abandonment of a highway or driftway from an 2 abutting property owner, may sell the highway or driftway to the abutting owner at fair market 3 value; and provided, further, that the city of Cranston, upon receipt of a request for abandonment 4 of a highway or driftway within the city of Cranston, where the sale of the highway or driftway to 5 an abutting owner would result in the creation of a new lot that would be in compliance with the 6 minimum-area requirement for construction of a building that is a permitted use, may sell the 7 highway or driftway to the abutting owner at fair market value; and provided, further, that the city 8 of Warwick, upon receiving a request for the abandonment of a highway or driftway from an 9 abutting property owner, may sell the highway or driftway to the abutting owner at fair market 10 value; and provided, further, that the town of Middletown, upon receiving a request for the 11 abandonment of a highway or driftway from an abutting property owner, may sell the highway or 12 driftway to the abutting owner at fair market value; and provided, further, that the town of 13 Cumberland, upon receiving a request for abandonment of a highway or driftway from an abutting 14 property owner, may sell the highway or driftway to the abutting owner at fair market value; and 15 provided, further, that the town of Narragansett, upon receiving a request for the abandonment of 16 a highway or driftway from an abutting property owner, may sell the highway or driftway to the 17 abutting owner at fair market value. 18 (1) Provided however, no highway or public road shall be abandoned by a city or town 19 unless, prior to the order of abandonment, the city or town council votes, by separate determination, 20 whether a public easement for pedestrian, recreational, conservation, or access purposes shall be 21 retained over all or any portion of the abandoned roadway. 22 (b) Provided, further, that nothing in this section shall apply to private ways regardless of 23 their use or maintenance thereof by any municipal corporation. 24 (c) All abandonments must be recorded in land evidence records by the petitioner(s) in the 25 applicable municipality through the filing of an administrative subdivision in accordance with 26 chapter 23 of title 45. The newly created boundary lines shall be certified to a Class 1 measurement 27 specification pursuant to the rules and regulations promulgated by the Rhode Island board of 28 registration for professional land surveyors in accordance with chapter 8.1 of title 5. 29 SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage. ======== LC003967 ======== LC003967 - Page 4 of 5 EXPLANATION BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL OF A N A C T RELATING TO PUBLIC PROPERTY AND WORKS -- ACQUISITION OF LAND *** 1 This act would provide a system for cities, towns and state agencies to designate certain 2 roads, paths and trails as special ways subject to restrictions on paving, widening and clearing. 3 Further, this act would provide that prior to a highway being determined abandoned by a city or 4 town council, a vote must be taken on whether to preserve a public easement. 5 This act would take effect upon passage. ======== LC003967 ======== LC003967 - Page 5 of 5