Rhode Island House OKs bill to spur new housing construction

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Rhode Island representatives overwhelmingly authorised a invoice Tuesday designed to make it simpler to transform workplace buildings, colleges, church buildings, purchasing malls, mills and different business actual property into housing.

The measure would encourage the event of high-density residential developments with out the necessity to go earlier than a municipal planning board for a zone change. The laws doesn’t eradicate the municipal evaluate and allowing course of for such developments, in line with backers.

The invoice would additionally ban cities and cities from mandating a couple of parking house per house within the conversion initiatives whereas additionally permitting builders to construct extra models in the event that they embrace reasonably priced housing.

The invoice was authorised on a 69-2 vote within the Democratic-controlled chamber with GOP Reps. Patricia Morgan and Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung casting the one votes towards the proposal.

“In Pawtucket, we’ve got had nice success in repurposing our previous mill and manufacturing facility constructions into new housing developments and I consider comparable successes can be seen throughout the state with the passage of this laws,” mentioned the invoice’s sponsor, Democratic Rep. Karen Alzate.

The laws is a part of a 14-bill bundle unveiled by Democratic Home Speaker Joseph Shekarchi final month aimed toward spurring the event of recent housing.

The Rhode Island Republican Social gathering criticized the invoice, saying it could override native management. Additionally they questioned whether or not it could profit shoppers of Shekarchi’s legislation observe.

Shekarchi mentioned in an announcement that the invoice “doesn’t influence any of my present or previous shoppers,” noting it could not go into impact till Jan. 1, whereas pointing to what he known as a extreme housing disaster within the state.

The Home handed one other invoice Tuesday that will create a “transit-oriented improvement” pilot program with the goal of encouraging denser housing developments round transit hubs. The invoice, which handed on a 68-1 vote, can be a part of the housing bundle.

The payments now head to the Senate.

A rising variety of builders nationwide are contemplating changing empty workplace towers into housing as a part of an effort to revive struggling downtown enterprise districts that emptied through the pandemic.

Many civic and political leaders see these conversions as a possible catalyst to bringing new housing to those dormant neighborhoods and, with that, eating places, retailers and different companies serving new residents.

Supporters of the initiatives additionally hope to diversify neighborhoods with much-needed housing that’s reasonably priced to low- and middle-income residents.