TOWNS AND CITIES -- RHODE ISLAND COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING AND LAND USE ACT, the official text

H8003 2026 -- H 8003 ======== LC005726 ======== STATE OF RHODE ISLAND IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2026 ____________ A N A C T RELATING TO TOWNS AND CITIES -- RHODE ISLAND COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING AND LAND USE ACT Introduced By: Representatives Noret, and Read Date Introduced: February 27, 2026 Referred To: House Municipal Government & Housing It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: 1 SECTION 1. Section 45-22.2-10 of the General Laws in Chapter 45-22.2 entitled Rhode 2 Island Comprehensive Planning and Land Use Act is hereby amended to read as follows: 3 45-22.2-10. Coordination of state agencies. 4 (a) State agencies shall develop their respective programs and conduct their respective 5 activities in a manner consistent with the findings, intent, and goals established under this chapter. 6 (b) The chief shall develop standards to assist municipalities in the incorporation of the 7 state goals and policies into comprehensive plans, and to guide the chief’s review of comprehensive 8 plans and state agency activities. 9 (c) The state planning council shall adopt and maintain all rules and regulations necessary 10 to implement the standards established by this chapter. 11 (d) The chief shall develop and make readily available to all municipalities statewide data 12 and technical information for use in the preparation of comprehensive plans. Data specific to each 13 municipality shall be provided by that municipality. The chief shall make maximum use of existing 14 information available from other agencies. 15 (e) The chief may contract with any person, firm, or corporation to develop the necessary 16 planning information and coordinate with other state agencies as necessary to provide support and 17 technical assistance for local planning efforts. 18 (f) The chief shall notify appropriate state agencies of the approval of a comprehensive 1 plan or amendment to a comprehensive plan. 2 (g) Once a municipality’s comprehensive plan is approved and remains valid under § 45- 3 22.2-12(b) , programs and projects of state agencies, excluding : 4 (1) The the state guide plan as provided for by § 42-11-10 ; and 5 (2) Those residential projects to which the process in subsection (g)(1) of this section 6 applies , shall conform to that plan. In the event that a state agency wishes to undertake a program, 7 project, or to develop a facility which is not in conformance with the comprehensive plan, the state 8 planning council shall hold a public hearing on the proposal at which the state agency must 9 demonstrate: 10 (1) That the program, project, or facility conforms to the stated goals, findings, and intent 11 of this chapter; and 12 (2) That the program, project, or facility is needed to promote or protect the health, safety, 13 and welfare of the people of Rhode Island; and 14 (3) That the program, project, or facility is in conformance with the relevant sections of the 15 state guide plan; and 16 (4) That the program implementation, project, or size, scope, and design of the facility will 17 vary as little as possible from the comprehensive plan of the municipality. 18 (g)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, any adaptive reuse project on 19 state-owned vacant land, meeting the requirements and definitions set forth in § 45-24-37(h) on 20 state-owned property, which is not in conformance with an approved and updated local 21 comprehensive plan, and/or local zoning ordinance provisions, then, prior to a building permit 22 being issued, the state planning council shall issue a determination, within sixty (60) days of receipt 23 of the proposal, as to whether: 24 (i) The project meets the requirements set forth in § 45-24-37(h); and 25 (ii) The project has sought written feedback from the planning, zoning, public works and/or 26 engineering staff of the municipality in which the property is located; and 27 (iii) The agency has obtained reports from experts, to the extent applicable, which conclude 28 that there will not be a detrimental impact on traffic, stormwater, wetlands, sewer capacity, potable 29 water availability, or historic features. 30 (2) Nothing in this section shall prevent the respective state agency from partnering with, 31 or transferring, leasing or selling the property upon completion of the project, to any nonprofit, or 32 privately-owned entity or person under any approved and lawful process. 33 SECTION 2. Section 45-23-27 of the General Laws in Chapter 45-23 entitled Subdivision 34 of Land is hereby amended to read as follows: LC005726 - Page 2 of 7 1 45-23-27. Applicability. 2 (a) Sections 45-23-25 — 45-23-74 and all local regulations are applicable to all 3 applications under this chapter , except that the local regulations and processes adopted pursuant to 4 this chapter are not applicable to any adaptive reuse project on state-owned property; provided that, 5 the project complies with §§ 45-24-37(h) and 45-22.2-10(g) . 6 (b) Plats required. 7 (1) All activity defined as a subdivision requires a new plat, drawn to the specifications of 8 the local regulations, and reviewed and approved by the planning board or its agents as provided in 9 this chapter; and 10 (2) Prior to recording, the approved plat shall be submitted for signature and recording as 11 specified in § 45-23-64. 12 SECTION 3. Section 45-24-28 of the General Laws in Chapter 45-24 entitled Zoning 13 Ordinances is hereby amended to read as follows: 14 45-24-28. Continuation of ordinances — Supercession — Relation to other statutes. 15 (a) Any zoning ordinance or amendment of the ordinance enacted after January 1, 1992, 16 shall conform to the provisions of this chapter. All lawfully adopted zoning ordinances shall be 17 brought into conformance with this chapter by December 31, 1994. Each city and town shall review 18 its zoning ordinance and make amendments or revisions that are necessary to bring it into 19 conformance with this chapter. 20 (b) All zoning ordinances adopted under authority of §§ 45-24-1 through 45-24-26 or any 21 special zoning enabling act that is in effect on June 17, 1991, shall remain in full force and effect 22 until December 31, 1994, unless earlier amended so as to conform to the provisions of this chapter, 23 except that § 45-24-37 and § 45-24-44 shall become effective on January 1, 1992. 24 (c) Former §§ 45-24-1 through 45-24-26 and all special zoning enabling acts, including, 25 but not limited to, chapter 2299 of the public laws of 1922, as amended (town of Westerly); chapter 26 1277 of the public laws of 1926, as amended (town of Narragansett); chapter 2065 of the public 27 laws of 1933, as amended (town of West Warwick); chapter 2233 of the public laws of 1935, as 28 amended (town of Johnston); chapter 2079 of the public laws of 1948, as amended (town of North 29 Kingstown); chapter 3125 of the public laws of 1953, as amended (town of New Shoreham); 30 chapter 101 of the public laws of 1973, as amended (town of South Kingstown); are repealed 31 effective December 31, 1994. All provisions of zoning ordinances adopted under authority of the 32 provisions of former §§ 45-24-1 through 45-24-26 or of any special act are repealed and are null 33 and void as of December 31, 1994, unless amended so as to conform to the provisions of this 34 chapter. LC005726 - Page 3 of 7 1 (d) Chapter 24.1 of this title, entitled “Historical Area Zoning”, and chapter 3 of title 1, 2 entitled “Airport Zoning”, are not superseded by this chapter; provided, that any appeal to the 3 superior court pursuant to chapter 24.1 of this title, entitled “Historical Area Zoning”, or pursuant 4 to chapter 3 of title 1, entitled “Airport Zoning”, is taken in the manner provided in § 45-24-69. 5 (e) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to limit the authority of agencies of state 6 government to perform any regulatory responsibilities. A local zoning ordinance adopted pursuant 7 to this chapter is not applicable to any adaptive reuse project on state-owned property; provided 8 that, the project complies with §§ 45-24-37(h) and 45-22.2-10(g). 9 SECTION 4. Section 45-53-10 of the General Laws in Chapter 45-53 entitled Low and 10 Moderate Income Housing is hereby amended to read as follows: 11 45-53-10. Repurposing of vacant schools for affordable housing program 12 Repurposing of vacant schools for housing program. 13 (a) There is hereby established the repurposing of school buildings for an affordable 14 housing program (the “program”). The program shall be administered by the secretary executive 15 office of housing as set forth herein. 16 (b) The purpose of the program shall be to provide guidance and assistance in the 17 repurposing of vacant and unused school buildings as identified and existing as of July 1 of each 18 year, commencing October 1, 2022. 19 (c) The department of elementary and secondary education (the “department”) shall, 20 commencing on October 1, 2022, on an annual basis, provide to the speaker of the house, the 21 president of the senate, and the secretary of housing a list of all school buildings that have been 22 abandoned or are no longer being used by a school district , including buildings formerly used for 23 educational instruction, administration and ancillary uses . 24 (d)(1) Each municipality shall provide the department with a complete list of buildings 25 abandoned or no longer being used by the school district for the purposes of conducting a feasibility 26 assessment to repurpose the building as affordable housing , including at least twenty-five percent 27 (25%) of the units designated as affordable housing . The department shall also include and identify 28 in the list those school buildings that the department anticipates will become abandoned or no 29 longer used by a school district within the next six (6) months following the issuance of the list. 30 (2) The secretary of housing shall convene a task force comprised of the Rhode Island 31 housing and mortgage finance corporation, the department of environmental management, the 32 department of health, and a fire marshal to develop assessment criteria to conduct preliminary 33 assessments to determine if a building may be repurposed into affordable housing , including at 34 least twenty-five percent (25%) of the units designated as affordable housing . Once the preliminary LC005726 - Page 4 of 7 1 assessment criteria are established, the executive office of housing shall conduct the assessments 2 for each school on the vacant schools list. 3 (3) If the executive office of housing finds that the assessed building meets the preliminary 4 assessment criteria, the office may, contingent upon program funding, facilitate a feasibility study 5 to determine the anticipated costs to repurpose the building for affordable housing , including at 6 least twenty-five percent (25%) of the units designated as affordable housing . This feasibility study 7 shall be completed within one hundred eighty (180) days after the executive office of housing has 8 been notified of the availability of a vacant building pursuant to this section. 9 (4) Once a building is determined by the executive office of housing to be appropriate for 10 repurposing as affordable housing, through a completed feasibility study, if completed, the 11 executive office of housing, in collaboration with the respective municipality, may invite 12 prospective developers to submit proposals for redevelopment of the site through a competitive 13 process, with the goal of repurposing the building into affordable housing , including at least twenty- 14 five percent (25%) of the units designated as affordable housing . 15 (e) The executive office of housing shall maintain on its website a separate page related to 16 the repurposing of buildings for the affordable housing program. This website shall contain a listing 17 of all buildings for which a feasibility assessment was conducted and the outcome of the 18 assessment, including a general statement of the condition of the property, an estimate of the types 19 of renovations, if any, that must be performed to the property, a copy of the feasibility study, and 20 an estimate of the costs thereof. Provided, it shall be made clear on the website that these are 21 estimates to repurpose used buildings, and that neither the state, the corporation, the division, the 22 commission, or any instrumentality of the state or of a municipality or school district shall be liable 23 for any estimates that are incorrect. 24 (f) The executive office of housing may seek to assist and facilitate persons and developers 25 who or that want to repurpose former buildings as affordable housing. This assistance may include, 26 but need not be limited to, technical and financial assistance, all to assist in the repurposing of the 27 school building. 28 (g) The Rhode Island executive office of housing shall promulgate rules and regulations 29 for the implementation and enforcement of this section. 30 (h) The secretary of housing shall provide an annual report on or before December 31, 31 commencing with calendar year 2023, including, but not limited to, the number of schools that are 32 vacant and include a status report of any development and/or feasibility to repurpose a vacant 33 building. 34 (i) As used herein, the term “affordable housing” means housing that meets the definition LC005726 - Page 5 of 7 1 for low- or moderate-income housing in § 45-53-3. 2 SECTION 5. This act shall take effect upon passage. ======== LC005726 ======== LC005726 - Page 6 of 7 EXPLANATION BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL OF A N A C T RELATING TO TOWNS AND CITIES -- RHODE ISLAND COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING AND LAND USE ACT *** 1 This act would amend various provisions relative to adaptive reuse projects on state-owned 2 property and certain conditions applied thereto. 3 This act would take effect upon passage. ======== LC005726 ======== LC005726 - Page 7 of 7