This Section authorizes the creation of growth management that
will control the rate of growth as permitted by this ordinance.
The purpose of growth management is to equitably allocate a
limited number of building permits over time, so as to minimize the
burden on existing facilities and resources, whose adequacy is essential
to the public health, safety and welfare, and in a manner which is
consistent with the Charlestown Comprehensive Community Plan. It is
the intent of this Section to allow controlled growth in relation
to the existing and future capacity of town facilities and the Chariho
Regional School District.
The Town Council, Planning Commission, Town staff and consultants
have conducted studies to develop a growth management program as called
for in the Comprehensive Community Plan. The Town Council finds that
these studies and documents, listed below, establish the basis for
the Town's Growth Management Program, and are incorporated herein
by reference:
A.
Community Planning Studio, University of Rhode Island, Graduate Program
in Community Planning and Area Development. The Growth Management
of Charlestown, Rhode Island. Kingston, RI. 4 Dec. 1984.
B.
Hess, Nancy. Charlestown Planning Department Issue Brief: Growth
Management Choices for the Future. Charlestown, RI. 1999.
C.
MGT of America, Inc. Chariho Facilities and Financial Study, Draft
Final Report #2. Olympia, WA. Jan. 1999.
D.
Pare Engineering. Controlling the Cost of Growth: An Approach for
Charlestown, Rhode Island. Lincoln, RI. Jan. 1988.
E.
Shamoon, Samuel J., Community Planner. Town of Charlestown, Growth
Management Study. Providence, RI. January 19, 2000.
Issuance of building permits authorizing creation of one or more dwelling units, as defined by § 218-5, through new construction or change of use shall be allowed only under the procedures and requirements set forth herein. Applicants for such residential building permits shall be authorized to proceed in the manner specified herein, and in accordance with the priority assigned to them. The total number of dwelling units authorized to begin construction in any quarter shall not exceed the calculated quota as established in § 218-36.
There shall be a finite number of residential building permits
for each quarter of each year. A quarter is defined as a three-month
period that begins on the first day of January, April, July or October.
From the effective date of this Section to April 1, 2000, there shall
be no residential permits issued whatsoever. Thereafter, the number
of residential permits to be issued shall be limited in accordance
with the following formula:
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Total Permits per Quarter = (equals) 28.96% of the currently
available seats within the Chariho Regional School District PLUS 28.96%
of the projected increase of seats within the Chariho Regional School
District over the next ten years, commencing with April 1, 2000 +
(divided by) .590 + (divided by) forty.
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A.
Initially, it has been determined by the Town Council, based upon studies conducted pursuant to the Comprehensive Plan and studies cited in § 218-83, along with data supplied by the Superintendent of the Chariho Regional School District, the Town's present capacity for additional dwelling units is based on the following:
(1)
1999 Chariho Capacity = 4,012 seats.
(2)
October 1, 1999 Chariho Enrollment = 3,978 seats.
(3)
Existing Capacity: 34 seats.
(4)
Chariho Planned Capacity (approximately): 1,200 seats.
(5)
Charlestown Planned Capacity (approximately): 360 seats.
(6)
Divided by 0.590: 610 permits.
(7)
Divided by 40 quarters: 15 permits.
B.
No more than fifteen (15) permits shall be issued as of the first
two quarters following the adoption of this Article. The annual quota
shall be the quarterly quota times four, initially 60 permits per
year.
Following the method established in § 218-86, the calculation of the formula for the third and all subsequent quarters shall be performed by the Building Official and shall be submitted to the Town Council, the Planning Commission and posted in the office of the Town Clerk not less than thirty (30) days prior to the commencement of the quarter for which the quota is to be applied. To assist the Building Official in his/her calculation, the Building Official shall request, in writing, that the Superintendent of the Chariho Regional School District supply him/her the number of available seats in the school district based on the current capacity less the actual enrollment as of October 1 of the school calendar year, and the increase in seat capacity, projected from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2009 based upon an adopted plan of the Chariho Regional School Committee. The Building Official shall monitor the Chariho Regional School District's overall capacity by checking with the Superintendent of the Chariho Regional School District every first day of February, March, August and November to determine if there are any changes in available seats. If there are no changes, the Building Official shall notify the Town Clerk that the number of permits to be issued the next quarter will be the same as the previous quarter. If there are changes in seats, the Building Official shall recalculate the quota and notify the Town Clerk of the new number of permits to be issued the next quarter. Notwithstanding any changes, the quota shall not change in the middle of any given quarter.
The effective date of this Article shall be the date of its
enactment. Any application for a building permit creating one or more
additional dwelling units submitted after the effective date of this
Article shall be subject to the review procedures set forth herein.
Permit applications submitted before the effective date of this Article
shall not be subject to any of the quota limitations of this Article.
This Article shall supercede any and all ordinances inconsistent herewith.
The following types of dwellings shall not be subject to the
provisions of this Article with regard to the calculated quota. These
dwellings have been determined to have no or minimal impact upon the
Town's capacity or provide positive benefits to the Town which are
consistent with the Comprehensive Community Plan. The Building Official
shall accept applications for construction of the dwellings listed
below and shall act upon them without regard to the quotas, priority
determination and procedures as set forth in this Article. All such
permits issued shall be considered to be issued in addition to the
calculated quota provisions of this Article. Complete applications
for construction of dwelling units so authorized shall be granted
permits within the time limits prescribed in the Rhode Island State
Building Code, regardless of the availability of permits within the
quota.
A.
Vested Rights — An application to construct a dwelling is not subject to this Section pursuant to vested rights provisions of § 218-4 of this Ordinance and for any application in a subdivision or land development which has received final or preliminary approval by the Planning Commission as of the date of this Article.
B.
Elderly Housing — Dwellings which would contribute to meeting
the year-round housing needs of elderly citizens through enforceable
restrictions limiting occupancy to households whose members are sixty-two
(62) years of age or older. Such restrictions would typically include
deed restrictions and/or covenants imposed by the applicant and monitored
by the Planning Commission.
C.
Retired Adult Communities — Planned developments for retired
citizens, with amenities, established through publicly enforceable
restrictions limiting occupancy to residents whose members are fifty-five
(55) years of age or older.
Building permits shall be issued by the Building Official up
to the maximum number permitted by the applicable calculated quota,
in the order of priority assigned below. In the event of a tie, priority
shall go to the application with the earlier date and time of the
submission of a complete application.
A.
The priority shall be given to applications for construction of Low and Moderate Income Housing as defined by § 218-5 of this Ordinance.
B.
The second priority shall be given to applications for construction
of a single family detached dwelling if the applicant has not previously
received a permit for any lot in Charlestown and the lot to be built
upon is not and was not under common ownership with a lot or parcel
which has previously received a building permit as of the effective
date of this Article; and either,
C.
The third priority shall be given to applicants whose application
for construction of a dwelling has been denied for four (4) consecutive
quarters because of the provisions of this Article.
D.
The fourth priority shall be given to applications for construction
of a single family detached dwelling if the applicant is subject to
the Planning Commission's phasing of subdivisions pursuant to Section
4 of the Charlestown Subdivision/Land Development Regulations.
E.
The remainder of the quota shall be issued to any other applications
in the order of complete applications received.
A.
Applications for building permits for construction of one or more
dwelling units shall be submitted to the Building Official, who shall
adhere to the following procedure in reviewing and issuing permits:
(1)
Completeness - The Building Official shall, upon receipt of an application
submitted, examine the application, plans and all materials for completeness,
which shall include all plans and materials required for a building
permit under the applicable provisions of the Zoning Ordinance and
the Rhode Island State Building Code. If said application, plans and
materials are complete, the Building Official shall stamp it indicating
the date and time of official receipt by the Town.
(2)
Incomplete Applications - If the application is incomplete and does
not contain all plans and materials as required by the Zoning Ordinance
and the Rhode Island State Building Code, the application, plans and
materials shall immediately be returned to the applicant who will
be informed by the Building Official what is missing from the submission
in order to qualify as a complete application.
B.
The Building Official shall not issue permits for any dwelling units in excess of the quota unless such units are exempt, as provided in § 218-89. The Building Official shall keep track of all permits issued plus complete applications submitted during the most recent quarter, beginning with the effective date of this Article. It within any quarter, the number exceeds the quota, additional building permits shall no longer be issued. Applications for additional permits shall be accumulated for action at the beginning of the next quarter, and shall be prioritized and issued under the ensuing quarter.
C.
At the beginning of the next quarter, the Building Official shall add the total number of complete applications on file to the total number of permits issued during the previous three (3) quarters. In the event that the resulting sum (current quarter applications plus the previous three quarters' accumulation) is fewer than the annual quota as defined in § 218-86 and § 218-87, accumulated permits shall be issued up to the quarterly quota limit and new applications may be processed to such limit. In the event that the resulting sum exceeds the annual quota as defined in § 218-86 and § 218-87, the accumulated permits shall not be issued and no further permits shall be issued for that quarter.
D.
The accumulation of applications may continue from one quarter to
the next and permits issued within the limitations described in C
above. Under no circumstances shall the number of building permits,
other than those exempt dwellings, shall exceed the annual quota.
In order to assure that permits for residential building construction
are equitably distributed among all qualified applicants, no more
than five (5) building permits for dwelling units shall be granted
to any single applicant, owner or group of owners of any single subdivision
or land development project receiving preliminary approval after the
effective date of this Article within any quarter if doing so would
result in denial of a permit for any other applicant. No more than
five (5) building permits for dwelling units during any quarter shall
be issued to any single applicant if doing so would result in denial
of a permit for any other applicant.
This Article shall expire December 31, 2009 and shall be reviewed
for applicability by the Planning Commission no later than December
31, 2005.
