[Amended 11-21-2023 by Ord. No. 2023-09]
A.
Findings. A diverse housing stock is necessary in this community
in order to serve people of all income levels. Based upon the review
and consideration of the recent Lincoln Affordable Housing Production
Plan, it has become clear that the provisions of this article are
necessary in order to preserve the diversity of housing opportunities
for the residents and working people of Lincoln.
(1)
The program defined by this article is necessary to provide continuing
housing opportunities for low- and moderate-income persons in Lincoln.
It is necessary to help maintain a diverse housing stock and to allow
residents and employees of Lincoln to have better access to housing
and jobs. The local and statewide trend of increasing housing costs
as identified in the Lincoln Affordable Housing Production Plan will,
without intervention, result in inadequate supplies of affordable
housing for low- and moderate-income residents and employees.
(2)
Remaining land for residential development in Lincoln is limited.
It is essential that at least 10% of such land be developed into housing
units affordable to low- and moderate-income households. The primary
objective of this article is to obtain affordable rental and homeownership
units within qualified subdivisions or land development projects.
Some provisions of this article provide for alternatives to the production
of such on-site units. Those provisions recognize the fact that individual
sites and economic factors can make on-site production less desirable
than the alternatives for particular developers. However, the intent
and preference of this article is that wherever possible, affordable
units constructed pursuant to this article be located on-site.
B.
Purpose. The purposes of this article are to:
(1)
Implement the Lincoln Affordable Housing Production Plan, and the
Housing Element of the Lincoln Comprehensive Plan;
(2)
Promote the construction of rental and homeownership housing that
is affordable for the low- and moderate-income households of Lincoln;
(3)
Maintain a balanced community that provides housing for people of
all income levels; and
(4)
Help Lincoln achieve the 10% low-moderate income housing goal set
by the State of Rhode Island.
C.
Definitions. The definitions contained in Article II shall apply to the provisions of this article.
D.
Applicability: This section shall not apply to any project filed
on or after January 1, 2024.
E.
Inclusionary units or in-lieu-of fee required.
(1)
All residential development projects shall include the number of inclusionary units required under Subsection F or, if applicable, shall pay the in-lieu-of fee required under Subsection O. No building permits shall be granted for a residential development project without compliance with this article.
(2)
Exemptions. This article shall not apply to the reconstruction of
any dwelling units that were destroyed by fire, flood, earthquake
or other act of nature.
(3)
It is permissible to apply for a subdivision of four lots or fewer
where one of the lots has an area three times or more greater than
the area required for that zone. However, further subdivision of the
larger lot will be treated as a major subdivision and shall be subject
to the requirements set out in this article.
F.
Number of inclusionary units. Any proposed residential development
containing five or more dwelling units is required to include at least
20% of the total number of dwelling units within the proposed development
as affordable units. The inclusionary units must be affordable for
a minimum of 99 years through a deed restriction or through being
held in a community land trust. The Town of Lincoln prefers that inclusionary
units be built on site. However, developers who satisfactorily demonstrate
to the Planning Board that building the inclusionary units on site
is infeasible may request to make a payment in-lieu-of fee or to build
the inclusionary units off site. The Town, at the applicant's
expense, may have an independent real estate consultant determine
feasibility of building the inclusionary units on site. Developers
must round up to the next highest number for fractional units. As
an alternative, an in-lieu-of fee may be paid for the fractional unit.
The amount of the in-lieu-of fee will be in direct proportion to the
percentage (out to two decimal places) of a single unit that is represented
by the fractional remainder of the above inclusionary unit calculation.
G.
Density bonus. All projects shall be entitled to a density increase
of 25% in accordance with the provisions of this section. This density
bonus qualifies as a locally provided subsidy. Any project shall be
entitled to an increase in the maximum lot coverage allowed for the
site on which the project is located following the calculation of
density, lot coverage, and setbacks. Any request for other density
increases beyond 25% will be strictly considered under a comprehensive
permit.
H.
Unit mix. The unit mix (i.e., the number of bedrooms per unit) of
the inclusionary units shall be in the same proportion as the unit
mix of the market-rate units. If only one inclusionary unit is required
and the other units in the project have various bedroom numbers, the
number of bedrooms for that unit will be an average of the number
of bedrooms located in the market-rate units in the qualified development
rounded to the nearest whole number.
I.
Location of inclusionary units. Except as provided for in this article:
J.
Unit types permitted in inclusionary subdivisions or land development projects. The Town of Lincoln encourages developers of inclusionary subdivisions or land development projects to provide a variety of housing types in the subdivision. Permitted housing types for an inclusionary subdivision include the following: single-family and duplex. Townhouse style buildings are also permitted in an inclusionary development. Each inclusionary unit in a single-family development will have the appearance of a single-family home pursuant to design guidelines in Subsection K.
K.
Design guidelines.
(1)
The exterior appearance of the inclusionary units in any development
shall be visually compatible with the market-rate units in the development.
External building materials and finishes shall be substantially the
same in type for inclusionary units as for market-rate units and have
the appearance of a single-family home.
(2)
The interior appearance and finishes of the inclusionary units may
differ from market-rate units in regard to interior finishes and gross
floor areas, provided that the bedroom combination of affordable units
shall be in proportion to the bedroom combination of the market-rate
units.
L.
Inclusionary housing agreement at preliminary plan.
(1)
Approval. The inclusionary housing agreement must be approved before
the developer receives preliminary plan approval.
(2)
Agreements required. Applications for residential development projects
seeking preliminary plan approval shall be approved only concurrently
with the approval of an inclusionary housing agreement pursuant to
this article. This section shall not apply should the developer choose
to pay an in-lieu-of fee.
(3)
Information in the inclusionary housing agreement:
(a)
The location, structure, proposed tenure, and size of the proposed
market-rate and inclusionary units.
(b)
The calculations used to determine the number of required inclusionary
units.
(c)
A site plan depicting the location of the inclusionary units.
(d)
The mechanisms that will be used to assure the inclusionary
units remain affordable for the required term.
(e)
For phased developments, a phasing plan.
(f)
A marketing plan for the process by which qualified households
will be reviewed and selected to either purchase or rent the affordable
units.
(g)
Any other information reasonably requested by the Planning Board
to assure compliance with the purposes and provisions of this section.
(4)
The Town will provide its preferred format for the inclusionary housing
agreement upon request.
M.
Timing of construction and assurance.
(1)
Phasing of construction. The inclusionary housing agreement shall
include a phasing plan (if a phased development) that provides for
the timely and integrated development of the inclusionary units as
the proposed project is built out. The phasing plan shall provide
for the development of the affordable housing units concurrently with
the development of the market-rate units. Building permits shall be
issued for the qualified development project based upon the phasing
plan. The phasing plan may be adjusted when necessary in order to
account for the different financing and funding environments, economies
of scale, and infrastructure needs applicable to development of the
market-rate and affordable housing units. The phasing plans shall
also provide that the affordable housing units shall not be the last
units built in any development.
(2)
Assurance of completion of inclusionary units. It is the responsibility
of the original developer to ensure development of any required inclusionary
units prior to the assigning or conveying of any subdivided lot and/or
dwelling unit. A developer must either construct the required inclusionary
units prior to construction of any market-rate units or obtain a surety
bond in an amount not less than 1.5 times the amount of the established
cash in-lieu-of fee for each required inclusionary unit. The surety
bond shall be held in escrow by the Town until such time as the inclusionary
units are constructed. The Town of Lincoln prefers that inclusionary
units be built prior to or concurrent with the market-rate units.
N.
Off-site construction of inclusionary units. Inclusionary units may
be constructed off site only upon a determination by the Planning
Board that on-site construction is infeasible. If this option is chosen,
then the off-site inclusionary units must be constructed prior to
or concurrently with the construction of the proposed market-rate
project. The inclusionary unit size and count must meet the same requirements
as if the inclusionary units were constructed on site. If subdivision
or land development project approval of the proposed off site location
is not required, no certificate of occupancy will be issued for any
corresponding market-rate units prior to the inclusionary unit construction
completion or payment of the required in-lieu-of fees. Planning Board
approval of the agreement to build off-site inclusionary units is
required.
O.
In-lieu-of fees.
(1)
The Town of Lincoln prefers that inclusionary units be constructed on site. To that end, developers must prove that providing the inclusionary units on site is infeasible to the Planning Board (as provided for in this article, if approved). Planning Board approval of the agreement to pay an in-lieu-of fee in order to providing inclusionary units in a residential development is required. The amount of the fee in lieu of providing inclusionary units shall be determined using the fee schedule calculation set forth in Subsection O(3). For projects constructed in phases, in-lieu-of fees shall be paid prior to the issuance of each building permit in the proportion that the phase bears to the overall project. The in-lieu-of fees shall be paid into the Affordable Housing Trust Fund as established and administrated by the Town of Lincoln's Town Council or its designee.
(2)
For projects to be developed on subdivided lots, in-lieu-of fees
shall be paid by the developer prior to issuance of final subdivision
approval or, in such cases where subdivision approval is not required,
prior to issuance of a building permit for the project or as determined
by the project's adopted conditions of approval.
(3)
An in-lieu-of fee is due from developers of residential projects
where payment of affordable housing in-lieu-of fees and/or fractional
unit fees was included as a condition of project approval. The fee
amount due per each whole affordable dwelling unit required shall
equal the sum of the cost of the land as assessed by the Town at the
time of subdivision application and the cost of development, including
construction, of an affordable unit on the same site as the proposed
market-rate units. The development cost used to complete in- lieu-of
fee calculations shall be determined by Rhode Island Housing. Projects
with fractional unit requirements shall pay an amount equal to the
applicable in-lieu-of fee amount for a whole unit multiplied by the
fractional requirement calculated out to two decimal places. This
in-lieu-of fee shall be reviewed and may be adjusted as necessary
by the Town of Lincoln's Town Council.
P.
Requirements.
(1)
Manner of compliance. All permanently affordable obligations of rental
housing projects shall be met through on-site units, unless the developer
shows that developing the approved inclusionary units on site is financially
infeasible. All rental inclusionary units must be restricted as affordable
for a minimum of 30 years. The Town's affordability period is
99 years for all projects.
(2)
Determination of rental rates for affordable units; maximum rents.
Rents charged for inclusionary rental units in any project must, on
average, be affordable to households earning 80% or less of the area
median income (AMI) as determined by the United States Department
of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). No affordable unit may rent
at a rate which exceeds affordability for a household earning 50%
to 80% of AMI as determined by HUD. Up-to-date AMI statistics may
be obtained from Rhode Island Housing at www.rihousing.com.
(3)
Sales prices for affordable units. The maximum sales price for an
affordable ownership unit shall be set by Rhode Island Housing according
to its accepted formula. The mix of unit sales prices will seek to
be consistent with the goals of the Town of Lincoln's Affordable
Housing Plan. Within a development, the average price charged for
affordable ownership units in any project shall be either:
(4)
Approved purchasers of affordable units. A developer or owner shall
select an eligible purchaser after completing a good-faith marketing
and selection process, as provided or approved by the Town of Lincoln.
Upon request, the Town may provide the developer or owner of an affordable
unit with a list of households certified by the Town as eligible to
purchase the unit. However, a developer or property owner may select
an income eligible purchaser who is not on a furnished list so long
as the Town can verify the purchaser's income and asset eligibility
and the unit is sold at an affordable price as described in this chapter.
(5)
Purchasers of affordable units required to reside in those units.
A purchaser of an affordable unit shall occupy the purchased unit
as their primary residence. No person shall rent an affordable ownership
unit. Ownership units must remain exclusively owner-occupied for the
entire required affordability period.
(6)
Resale restrictions applicable to affordable units. All affordable
ownership units as developed under this article shall be subject to
the following restrictions: A seller of an affordable unit must select
a low-income purchaser by a method that complies with a Town-approved
good-faith marketing and selection process. At the request of a seller,
the Town will provide the seller with the description of a process
that meets this requirement. Upon request, the Town may provide the
seller with a list of households certified by the Town as income eligible
to purchase the unit. All purchasers of affordable units shall be
part of an income eligible household.
(7)
Resale price for affordable units.
(a)
Any unit originally sold to a family earning 80% or less of the AMI at the time of purchase shall have a resale price not exceeding that which is affordable to a household earning 80% or less of the AMI as defined by HUD at the time of the sale and depending on subsidy as described in the above Subsection P(3).
(b)
Any unit originally sold to a family earning more than 80% up to 120% of the AMI at the time of purchase shall have a resale price not exceeding that which is affordable to a household earning more than 80% up to 120% of the AMI as defined by HUD at the time of the sale and depending on subsidy as described in the above Subsection P(3).
(8)
Deed restriction or incorporation into a community land trust required.
No person offering an affordable unit for sale shall fail to lawfully
reference in the grant deed conveying title of any such unit and recorded
with the Town's Land Evidence Records a covenant or declaration
of restrictions in a form approved by the Town. Such covenant or declaration
of restrictions shall reference applicable contractual arrangements,
restrictive covenants, and resale restrictions as are necessary to
carry out the purposes of this article.
(9)
Requirements may be amended in furtherance of the purposes of this
section.
Q.
Monitoring. The Lincoln Housing Authority, or another selected agency
as determined by the Town of Lincoln's Town Council, will be
designated as the monitoring agent to ensure compliance with the requirements
of this article.
