[Added 11-6-2006 by Ord. No. 779; amended 10-26-2015 by Ord. No. 845; 3-14-2016 by Ord. No. 849; 6-12-2017 by Ord. No.
870]
A.
The purpose of this article is to:
(1)
Implement the Town's Affordable Housing Plan contained in the state-approved
Comprehensive Community Plan, as adopted by the Town Council and amended
from time to time.
(2)
Promote the public health, safety and welfare by promoting the development
of affordable housing within the Town of East Greenwich in accordance
with the state mandate and to promote a full range of housing choices
throughout the Town for households of all incomes, ages and sizes.
(3)
Promote housing that qualifies as "low- or moderate-income housing"
under R.I.G.L. § 45-53-3(9).
B.
The authority for adoption and implementation of the Affordable Housing
Plan is conferred by R.I.G.L. §§ 42-128-8.1(d)(2) and
(3), and 45-22.2-6(b)(6).
C.
This article shall apply to all subdivisions and land development
projects of five or more residential units, as classified under East
Greenwich's Zoning Ordinance and Land Development and Subdivision
Regulations,[1] within zones where residential units are permitted.
D.
All developers of the aforementioned projects shall be required to
submit a "yield plan," defined as: a plan demonstrating a subdivision's
or land development project's maximum density (maximum number of lots
or units), taking into account all environmental, natural and man-made
physical constraints to development, including but not limited to
wetlands, topography, groundwater characteristics, and existing improvements.
A yield plan shall meet all conventional zoning and subdivision requirements,
including minimum buildable area requirements, and shall not assume
that any waivers, variances or special use permits will be granted.
On parcels located in areas not serviced by public sewers and not
proposed for extension of public sewers, the yield plan shall include
the location of an appropriate on-site wastewater treatment system
on each lot.
E.
For all applicable projects under the preceding, at least 20% of the proposed base developable yield must qualify as affordable housing as defined per Subsection A(3) above. Affordable units must be deed restricted to remain affordable to households with gross incomes at or below 120% of the area median income, adjusted for family size, per R.I.G.L. § 42-128-8.1(d)(1).
F.
When a subdivision or land development project that creates fewer
than five new dwelling units is approved on a portion of a parcel
of land, leaving another portion of the same parcel undeveloped, the
portion left undeveloped shall not be subdivided or developed for
residential or mixed use unless the undeveloped portion is subject
to the inclusionary requirements of this chapter. The number of inclusionary
units required in the later development shall be calculated as if
the earlier development were part of it. This provision does not apply
when an entire parcel receives Master Plan approval and is developed
in phases.
A.
Consistent with Chapter 93 of the Town Code, Fees, Article II, Development Impact Fees, affordable housing units [those referenced in § 260-98A(3) above] are exempt from the Town's development impact fee and this fee waiver shall constitute a municipal government subsidy as defined in R.I.G.L. § 45-53-3, the Rhode Island Low and Moderate Income Housing Act, Definitions.
B.
All projects subject to the provisions of this article wherein low- and moderate-income housing units are being provided on site as part of an approved development shall be entitled to a density bonus of up to 20% more units than otherwise allowed consistent with Subsection C below. Development of projects that include a density bonus shall require a special use permit (consistent with the standards listed in § 260-91D of this Code) from the Zoning Board of Review that incorporates deviations from the ordinary dimensional standards. Such permit can also be used to allow multiple residential structures on one lot.
C.
Additional units/lots allowed under this zoning incentive provision
shall constitute a municipal government subsidy as defined in the
Rhode Island Low and Moderate Income Housing Act. In addition to the
yield plan required of each developer to show the maximum base number
of units/lots, developers shall also be required to submit a second
yield plan that includes the additional units as permitted with the
zoning incentive. The Planning Board may require the modification
via special use permit of the building height cap and/or minimum dimensional
standards, including overall lot size, lot coverage, setbacks, and
frontage requirements to accommodate affordable units. Lot size, coverage,
setback, and frontage requirements can be reduced by up to 20% but
only following an affirmative finding by the Planning Board that:
(1)
Using a flexible zoning standard is in the best interest of good
planning practice as evidenced by consistency with the Comprehensive
Community Plan, including the Housing Plan; and
D.
A "yield plan" indicates the basic maximum number of units or lots
a parcel can support. A minimum of 20% of all proposed lots or units
shall be affordable to low- or moderate-income households as defined
in R.I.G.L. § 45-53. Where such calculation yields a fraction
of a unit and such fraction is 0.5 or higher, the requirement shall
be rounded to the next higher, whole number. Where such calculation
yields a fraction of a unit and that fraction is less than 0.5, the
requirement shall be rounded to the lower whole number.
E.
All affordable units provided within a development shall comply with
all of the following requirements:
(1)
All affordable units shall be dispersed throughout the development
so as to ensure a true mix of market-rate and affordable housing.
(2)
All affordable units shall be visually compatible with market-rate
units in the same development. Affordable units shall be comparable
to market-rate units in terms of location, type, quality, character,
architectural style, and primary exterior building finishes and materials.
(3)
Except as otherwise authorized by the Town, all affordable units
shall contain one or more bedrooms. The mix of unit sizes and number
of bedrooms per unit among the affordable units shall be in the same
proportion as the mix among the market-rate units. If only one affordable
unit is required and the other units in the development are of various
sizes with varying numbers of bedrooms, the affordable unit shall
contain an average of the number of bedrooms located in the market-rate
units rounded to the nearest whole number.
(4)
In assessing the compatibility of character between the affordable
units and the market-rate units within a development, the Planning
Board may consider building elevations, renderings, models and any
other materials it deems necessary to assess and compare building
features, including but not limited to overall height, roof pitch,
building shape and footprint, exterior materials, structural massing
and window pattern, style, and sizes.
(5)
The owners or renters of affordable units shall have all rights,
privileges and responsibilities accorded to market-rate owners or
renters, including access to all non-fee amenities within the development.
(6)
Certificates of occupancy (C/Os) for affordable units shall be issued prior to, or simultaneously with, the certificates of occupancy for market-rate units. In phased developments, the affordable units shall be phased, built, and occupied at least at the same proportionate rate as the market-rate units. If the off-site exaction is exercised (see § 260-101.1) and affordable units are rehabilitated or constructed at some other location, certificates of occupancy for the off-site units shall be issued at the same rate as certificates of occupancy for the market-rate units in the development.
F.
Any dwelling units proposed to be deed-restricted and counted as
affordable units must be in full compliance with all applicable construction
and occupancy codes, and shall be sufficiently maintained or rehabilitated
so that all major systems meet standards comparable to new construction.
A.
Complete applications for construction of affordable housing on substandard
lots of record (nonconforming by dimension) will be reviewed as land
development projects.
C.
Applications for development of one substandard lot of record not abutting any other lot or parcel in the same ownership shall include the completed Master Plan Checklist in the Land Development and Subdivision Review Regulations, § A263-17, Subsection (a), Items 1 through 12, 14, 17, 18, and 23 and Subsection (b), Items (3) and (9).
D.
The Planning Board, with advice from the Technical Review Committee,
shall recommend the dimensional requirements for these applications.
The Zoning Board of Review retains purview over projects requiring
variances and special use permits, and any necessary relief shall
be subject to its review and approval.
All affordable housing units constructed pursuant to this article
must qualify as low- and/or moderate-income housing units as defined
in Title 45, Chapter 53 of the Rhode Island General Laws. To accomplish
this, an applicant shall, at a minimum, make the following submission
in conjunction with the final plan:
A.
A Town-Solicitor-approved monitoring service agreement with a qualified
organization; and
B.
Town-Solicitor-approved land lease and/or deed restriction to be
in place not less than 30 years that includes the Town as a signatory,
and grants to the Town enforcement authority and the right to notice.
A.
Purpose. It is acknowledged that not every subdivision proposal or
project site will be compatible with the goals and requirements of
this Affordable Housing Ordinance. Therefore, the Planning Board,
with input from the Town professional staff and Technical Review Committee,
may exempt a subdivision or land development project from the requirement
to provide affordable units on-site, and instead require an off-site
exaction. The Planning Board may allow off-site exactions when, in
its determination, either of the following conditions is met:
(1)
It would not be feasible to provide affordable units on-site
due to existing physical conditions that present unusual development
challenges. These challenges may be environmental or regulatory and
could impact the public safety or welfare. Examples include high water
tables, presence of sensitive wildlife habitat, lot geometry, and
surrounding traffic circulation patterns.
(2)
The off-site alternative would be beneficial to the Town or
to future residents of the units because it is more likely to produce
housing that accomplishes the goals of the Town's Affordable Housing
Plan, which calls for, among other things, housing locations to be
closely related to the presence of existing public services and facilities,
jobs, transit and other amenities.
B.
Options. On-site affordable unit provision within a new development
is strongly preferred. In special circumstances consistent with the
above, the following off-site exactions may be allowed by the Planning
Board in priority order:
C.
Compatibility. Off-site units rehabilitated or constructed in other
neighborhoods remote from the proposed development site shall be compatible
in siting, style, character, quality, and scale with existing dwelling
units in the surrounding area.
D.
Concurrent development. Any required off-site affordable units shall
be developed concurrently with the market-rate units in the subject
subdivision or land development project, and certificates of occupancy
(C/Os) for market-rate units shall be issued at the same proportionate
rate as C/Os for newly constructed or rehabilitated affordable units.
Where only one affordable unit is required to be provided, the Planning
Board shall impose a condition of final plan approval that stipulates
the timing of the availability of the affordable unit. In no case
shall the final C/O for a market-rate unit in a development be granted
before rehabilitation/construction of all required affordable units
is complete.
E.
Rehabilitation. Existing housing units provided to satisfy the affordable
housing requirement as described herein shall be rehabilitated consistent
with the definition of "low or moderate income housing" found in the
R.I.G.L. § 45-53-3(9). Affordable off-site units provided
without any rehabilitation shall not be accepted.
F.
Incentive. Pursuant to R.I.G.L. § 45-24-46.1, which requires a subsidy or financial incentive for all residential projects with an inclusionary component, the twenty-percent density bonus over the base developable yield shall also be applied to projects pursuing an off-site exaction. As an example, if a parcel's yield plan shows development potential for six units, the developer, taking advantage of the density bonus, could propose construction of seven units on the project site but would also need to construct and deed-restrict, or purchase, rehabilitate and deed-restrict, an off-site unit as well. Consistent with § 260-99B above, projects including density bonus units shall require a special use permit from the Zoning Board of Review that incorporates any necessary deviations from the ordinary dimensional standards.
A.
The local review board shall submit a report on affordable housing
activities in each fiscal year to the Town Council not later than
August 14 of the following fiscal year.
B.
The report shall include the following:
(1)
The number of applications to construct or rehabilitate affordable
housing units submitted, accepted as complete, and rejected as incomplete.
(2)
The total number of dwelling units proposed to be constructed
or rehabilitated in applications that are accepted and the number
of dwelling units that are proposed to be affordable in such applications.
