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Monday, October 14, 2024
Town Council meeting is TOMORROW
Sunday, September 8, 2024
On the agenda for tomorrow night...
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Tuesday, July 2, 2024
Victoria Gu’s ADU bill will help address housing crisis
Low-impact solution to affordable housing needs
Legislation sponsored by House
Commission on Housing Affordability Chairwoman June S. Speakman and Sen.
Victoria Gu to help Rhode Islanders to develop accessory dwelling units (ADUs)
on their property has been signed into law. The legislation is intended as a
way to boost production of an affordable housing option.
Before the bill was passed, Sen. Gu met with RISD
students who came up with ADU designs for Rhode Island
ADUs, sometimes referred to as in-law apartments or granny flats, are accessories to existing housing, created as a conversion of part of a house (such as a walkout basement), an attachment to a house or a smaller, detached dwelling.
They have become increasingly popular
around the country in recent years as states and municipalities balance the
need to create more housing while preserving the character of residential
neighborhoods. Seniors, especially, have taken to ADUs as a way to downsize
while continuing to live independently in their community.
Here is one of those designs (RISD)
The legislation (2024-H 7062A, 2024-S 2998A) was
written in collaboration with stakeholders and advocates, including AARP, for
which increasing production of ADUs has been a primary policy goal for several
years.
The new law, which
took effect immediately when Gov. Dan McKee signed it June 25, provides
homeowners statewide the right to develop a single ADU on an owner-occupied
property to accommodate a disabled family member, or within the existing
footprint of their structures or on any lot larger than 20,000 square feet, provided that the ADU’s design satisfies building code, size
limits and infrastructure requirements.
The
measure is meant to encourage the development of rental units that are likely
to be more affordable than many other apartments, and also to provide
opportunities for homeowners with extra space to generate income that helps
them maintain ownership of that property.
“One of the drivers of our housing crisis is the low construction rate in Rhode Island. Our state has the lowest per-capita construction rate in the whole country. We need to be creative and be willing to allow construction of housing, particularly affordable, moderate and small units like ADUs,” said Chairwoman Speakman (D-Dist. 68, Warren, Bristol).
“Our commission learned that there are many
people in Rhode Island who already have space that they’d like to use in this
way, but our laws make it complicated. This bill removes some of the obstacles
to building ADUs while respecting municipal land use policies.”
Said Senator Gu (D-Dist. 38, Westerly, Charlestown, South Kingstown), “ADUs offer the ‘missing middle:’ housing that is smaller, more affordable and smartly repurposes our existing buildings and garages.
Friday, June 14, 2024
Final ADU development bill clears General Assembly
Legislation would help address housing crisis
The
General Assembly today approved legislation sponsored by House Commission on
Housing Affordability Chairwoman June S. Speakman and Sen. Victoria Gu to boost
housing production by helping Rhode Islanders to develop accessory dwelling
units (ADUs) on their property. The bill now goes to the governor.One of several ADU designs by students at RISD
ADUs, sometimes referred to as in-law apartments or granny flats, are accessories to existing housing, created as a conversion of part of a house (such as a walkout basement), an attachment to a house or a smaller, detached dwelling.
They have
become increasingly popular around the country in recent years as states and
municipalities balance the need to create more housing while preserving the
character of residential neighborhoods. Seniors, especially, have taken to ADUs
as a way to downsize while continuing to live independently in their community.
The
legislation was written in collaboration with stakeholders and advocates,
including AARP, for which increasing production of ADUs has been a primary
policy goal for several years.
The bill (2024-H 7062A, 2024-S
2998A) would
provide homeowners statewide the right to develop a single ADU on an
owner-occupied property to accommodate a disabled family member, or within the
existing footprint of their structures or on
any lot larger than 20,000 square feet, provided that the ADU’s design
satisfies building code, size limits and infrastructure requirements.
Wednesday, June 12, 2024
General Assembly likely to ignore accessory dwelling "compromise" written to appease the CCA
General Assembly seems ready to pass "tiny house" legislation
By Nancy Lavin, Rhode Island Current
Amended companion bills advanced by the Senate Committee on Housing and Municipal Government late Tuesday are nearly identical to the original proposal championed by House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi, and already given the greenlight by the Rhode Island House in February.
The Senate panel’s 5-2 vote returns the revised legislation to the full House of Representatives, and sends it to the full Senate for the first time. Floor votes in each chamber are expected on the final day of session on Thursday, June 13, though there may also be amendments made on the floor, as Sen. Roger Picard, a Woonsocket Democrat and committee chairman, told fellow lawmakers Tuesday.
Picard and Sen. Gordon Rogers, a Foster Republican, voted against advancing the amended legislation to the floor.
The only change from the original House bill: clarifying that the “by right” allowances to build ADUs in certain circumstances — including for family members with disabilities or for units built within an existing home rather than as add-ons or standalone structures — are limited to one unit per lot.
“That was the intent of the bill all along,” Rep. June Speakman, a Warren Democrat and bill sponsor, said in an interview on Tuesday. “The idea was not that you would build a backyard full of them.”
State law already allows ADUs, either within or detached from a single family home. But vast and varied local zoning and building requirements have stifled their spread.
The House legislation, Shekarchi’s top legislative priority for two years running, aims to cut through the municipal red tape by preventing cities and towns from adding extra conditions around frontage and setbacks or infrastructure requirements beyond what is required by state law.
Yet town planners and local officials have railed against a perceived loss of local control. Last year, the Rhode Island Senate punted a decision amid municipal outcry.
In March, Sen. Victoria Gu, a Westerly Democrat, offered a compromise version that appeared to appease even the harshest local critics. Unlike the House version, Gu’s bill gives extra powers to cities and towns to set owner occupancy and minimum lease length requirements for ADUs.
The American Planning Association’s Rhode Island chapter (APA RI) threw its weight behind Gu’s legislation, having helped to draft the bill text itself. But none of those protections were incorporated into the legislation advanced by the Senate committee.
Meanwhile, the compromise bill is still languishing in the same committee without a scheduled vote, much to the chagrin of local planners.
“It is quite unfortunate that a collaborative effort of many months with countless hours spent by many different advocates, often with competing positions, who came together for a strong ADU bill that will correct the shortcomings of the existing law, give communities the safeguards they specifically requested, and build in the flexibility to encourage communities to develop ADUs beyond those permitted by right, is not being considered,” Jane Weidman, Charlestown town planner and APA RI legislative subcommittee chair, wrote in a Monday email to lawmakers and shared with Rhode Island Current.
“The Senate bill spearheaded by Senator Gu is an excellent example of how legislation should be crafted. It was an open and inclusive process, and the bill is so much better for it.”
EDITOR'S NOTE: Actually, instead of being "an open and inclusive process," Gu's legislation was written by the planning lobby group to advance the interests of the Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA). The CCA believes that Charlestown should be able to reject state laws on land use to suit its own undefined definition of "rural character." CCA founder and town Planning Commissar Ruth Platner has long opposed any practical approach to accessory dwelling units. - Will Collette
Monday, June 10, 2024
Will time run out on bills for accessory dwelling units, open records reform and changing the CRMC?
Charlestown has a big stake in getting these three bills passed
By Nancy Lavin, Rhode Island Current
Whoever coined the proverb “third time’s a charm,” probably didn’t have much direct experience in government.
Two of the three bills are sponsored by Charlestown's
Sen. Victoria Gu
Indeed, many of the top bills in play on Smith Hill are perennial problems, marked by years or even decades of failed attempts to solve complicated problems like the housing crunch, public records requirements and the state’s troubled coastal regulatory agency.
The 2024 legislative session features many such recurring hot topics, made even hotter as the clock ticks down till the end of the session, expected to be this week.
Here’s a look at where three of the most pressing, unresolved issues stand as of June 7.
Accessory dwelling units
While attempts to streamline the local zoning and permitting process for accessory dwelling units (ADUs) doesn’t have quite the storied history as other legislation in State House lore, it’s been the top priority for House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi for two years running.
And while Shekarchi, a Warwick Democrat, has won overwhelming support from his House colleagues both years, the Senate has been reluctant to make moves, citing concern by municipal officials, including town planners.
A compromise version intended to appease some of the harshest municipal critics was introduced by Sen. Victoria Gu, a Charlestown-Westerly Democrat, with an initial vetting on May 16. Yet Gu’s bill remains languishing in the Senate Committee on Housing and Municipal Government as of June 7.
“It’s under negotiation,” Gu said in an interview Friday. “It’s an active topic.”
Greg Pare, a spokesperson for Senate President Dominick Ruggerio, offered a perfunctory response on June 4: “not this week.”
Shekarchi has also indicated he’s unwilling to reconcile his initial proposal, which already sailed through the House, with Gu’s version, which would be required at some point before the bill is signed into law.
However, a separate bill, also sponsored by Gu, that matches Shekarchi’s exact proposal is scheduled to be voted out of the Senate Committee on Housing and Municipal Government Tuesday night.
Public records
EDITOR'S NOTE: Abuse of the law by the Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA) when they controlled town government makes this a high-stake issue for us. Often, the CCA had town pet town Administrator Mark Stankiewicz use the APRA to hide shady land deals. - Will Collette
Advocates hoped the Interstate 195 Washington Bridge closure, and ensuing dossier of emails, text messages and videos released by public records requests, would shine a spotlight on the importance of strengthening the state’s Access to Public Records Act.
Yet the push to update the law that governs what state and local agencies have to hand over to interested members of the public — and for what cost — was derailed by the litany of objections raised by state agencies, including Gov. Dan McKee’s office.
Also complicating the discussion is how the APRA legislation interacts with the Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights (LEOBOR), specifically in conflict around whether policy body camera footage can be kept secret, or must be released when requested as a public record. Amendments to the LEOBOR bill approved by the Rhode Island General Assembly Thursday aimed to resolve that conflict, though concerns lingered among some open government groups.
John Marion, executive director for Common Cause Rhode Island, a key backer of the APRA legislation, said his hopes of passage were dwindling every day.
“So far, we haven’t been asked to throw anything overboard, which is probably one of the indicators that it is not going anywhere this year,” Marion said in an interview on June 4. “If they were going to pass it, they would have asked us what we would compromise on.”
Ever the optimist, Sen. Lou DiPalma, a Middletown Democrat and bill sponsor, maintained that the show wasn’t over, and that he was still discussing potential compromises with other lawmakers and legislative staff.
“It’s on a lifeline, yes, but it’s got a pulse,” DiPalma said in an interview on June 4.
CRMC reform
From allegations of backroom deals to a string of vacancies that have made it difficult to even hold meetings, the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council is awash in criticism.
Companion bills by Sen. Victoria Gu and Rep. Terri Cortvriend, a Portsmouth Democrat, and backed by Attorney General Peter Neronha, tackle the most problematic piece, the 10-member, politically appointed council. The legislation abolishes the council and instead restructures the CRMC as an administrative agency similar to the Department of Environmental Management.
Hopes of passage came crashing down after the state budget office put a price tag on the change: $1.2 million to $2.9 million, according to a May 28 memo sent to lawmakers. The two-page memo explains that abolishing the council requires the agency to hire 15 more employees to take on the tasks previously overseen by the appointed council.
Shekarchi’s reaction? “Too expensive,” he told reporters on May 31, minutes before unveiling a revised $13.9 billion fiscal 2025 budget proposal that does not include any money for a CRMC overhaul.
But advocates for coastal reform insist the estimated price tag is inaccurate.
“The fiscal note is a red herring, intended to make sure the reform bill does not pass,” Topher Hamblett, executive director for Save the Bay, said in an interview on Thursday.
The legislation specifically calls for one new employee, a staff attorney, the cost for which would be canceled out by eliminating the agency’s current practice of hiring an outside, private law firm to act as its legal counsel.
Hamblett remained hopeful that lawmakers would not be deterred by the eye-popping, and in his view overblown, sticker price and pass the legislation anyway.
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Rhode Island Current is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Rhode Island Current maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janine L. Weisman for questions: info@rhodeislandcurrent.com. Follow Rhode Island Current on Facebook and Twitter.
Sunday, May 26, 2024
Charlestown's Senator Victoria Gu comes up with compromise on accessory dwellings
Will Ruth Platner's proxy now go along?
By Nancy Lavin, Rhode Island Current
Big opposition to tiny houses last year took down a legislative attempt to make it easier to build in-law apartments, or accessory dwelling units (ADUs).
Victoria puts her back into helping So. County Habitat
build affordable housing on Legislator Volunteer
Day (photo by David DelPoio, Prov Journal)
Now in the home stretch of the 2024 legislative session, a compromise has emerged. Even municipal naysayers backed the amended legislation introduced by Sen. Victoria Gu, a Westerly Democrat, during a May 16 State House hearing.
At first glance, Gu’s version of the ADU bill appears similar to one spearheaded by House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi, which passed in the House earlier this year. But the tweaks to building and property size limits, alongside extra powers to cities and towns to set owner occupancy and minimum lease length requirements, have assuaged some of the harshest critics.
“Really, what we want to do is to keep as much local control as possible, giving municipalities the tools to expand ADUs based on their circumstances,” Jane Weidman, Charlestown town planner and chair of the American Planning Association Rhode Island chapter’s legislative subcommittee testified before the Senate Committee on Housing and Municipal Government on May 16 in support of Gu’s legislation.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Weidman was recruited to Charlestown by CCA leader and Planning Commissar Ruth Platner after Weidman was fired by Block Island. Weidman generally speaks only for Platner and not necessarily on behalf of Charlestown (in my opinion). - Will Collette
Unlike the House version, which was put forth without input from town planners, Gu’s version sought their feedback well before a formal proposal was introduced, Weidman said. The effort began as soon as the 2023 legislative session ended, with monthly meetings among lawmakers, planners, housing advocates and other stakeholders.
Tuesday, March 12, 2024
Gu introduces Senate bill to boost ADU development
Uh-oh...The CCA isn't going to like this, but everyone else will
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| Victoria meets with a team of RISD students who have been working on ADU designs |
Sen. Victoria Gu has introduced legislation to boost housing production by allowing more Rhode Islanders to develop accessory dwelling units (ADUs) on their property.
“I am happy to join my colleagues in the House in making ADUs accessible to more homeowners,” said Senator Gu (D-Dist. 38, Westerly, Charlestown, South Kingstown).
“ADUs offer the ‘missing middle’: housing that is smaller, more affordable and smartly repurposes our existing buildings and garages. Homeowners can be a part of the solution to the housing crisis by creating or converting a garage, basement or shed into an ADU and offering it as a long-term rental. Then they have the benefit of receiving some additional income or housing a loved one, friend or onsite caregiver. It’s a win-win.”
ADUs, sometimes referred to as in-law apartments, backyard cottages or granny flats, are accessories to existing housing, created as a conversion of part of a house (such as a walkout basement), an attachment to a house or a smaller, detached dwelling.
They have become increasingly popular around the country in recent years as states and municipalities balance the need to create more housing with preserving the character of residential neighborhoods.
Seniors, especially, have taken to ADUs as a way to downsize while continuing to live independently in the community they love. The bill was written in collaboration with Rhode Island AARP, for whom increasing production of ADUs for seniors to age in place within their communities has been a primary policy goal for several years.
The bill (2024-S 2630) would allow homeowners to develop an ADU within the existing footprint of their structures by right, or build an attached or detached ADU if the lot is large enough.
Monday, February 5, 2024
New state ADU bill moves forward
R.I. House panel advances ‘granny flats’ legislation to full chamber
By Nancy Lavin, Rhode Island Current
The lone straggler from House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi’s 14-bill housing package unveiled in the 2023 legislative session is making a strong comeback this year, with a House panel advancing the “granny flats” legislation Thursday.
The Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA) would have you believe this
is what will happen if the town allows ADU construction
The House Municipal Government and Housing Committee’s 10-2 vote does not necessarily signal its approval, but rather sends the bill to the House floor for a vote by the entire chamber. A floor vote will be scheduled for the week of Feb. 12, said House spokesperson Larry Berman.
Still, the accessory dwelling unit legislation championed by Shekarchi and sponsored by Rep. June Speakman, a Warren Democrat, seems bound for passage in the lower chamber. The same bill was overwhelmingly approved in the House in June, but stalled in committee on the Senate side.
Heralded by proponents as a way to combat the housing crisis, the legislation would make it easier for property owners to add a granny flat, or accessory dwelling unit, to their property by lifting some of the red tape imposed at the municipal level.
Specifically, the bill allows residential property owners to build an attached or standalone ADU “by right” under any of three scenarios: to provide for family members with disabilities; on lots at least 20,000 square feet in size; or when the proposed ADU would be carved out from an existing structure, therefore not expanding the total building footprint.
Tuesday, January 30, 2024
Ignore the CCA propaganda on "accessory dwelling units" (ADU)
Charlestown is NOT ending single-family zoning despite what the CCA says
By Will Collette
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| How the CCA sees ADUs |
Then, of
course, there is the Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA), dba Planning Commissar Ruth
Platner and former CCA-sponsored Town Council member Bonnita Van Slyke,
hunkering down in the CCA’s fabled secret clubhouse to regurgitate furballs of hyperbolic
nonsense.
Their
latest litterbox conclusion being that “Single Family Zoning no longer exists in Charlestown” so everyone needs to head to their fallout shelters.
 |
| A more realistic example of an ADU (RI Home Store) |
If you look below (⏬) at current town policy, adjusted to comply with state law, these are labeled "ADU
#1."
The CCA is most concerned about "ADU #2," which are units that may be detached from the main house and could theoretically be occupied by someone who is not a disabled/elderly family member of the property owner. Charlestown has had something similar on the books called I-RADUs – I’ll explain what those are shortly.
Accessory dwelling units are not new to Charlestown
Actually,
the CCA has ALWAYS been against the concept of accessory dwelling units (ADUs).
It was one of the very first issues covered in Progressive Charlestown,
starting in February 2011 just one month after PC's launch.
In 2011, as
now, Ruth Platner talked about ADUs as a major step on Charlestown's road to
perdition, claiming - without evidence - that ADUs for family members were
being rented to outsiders.
Despite that, Platner proposed two ordinances, one called AFDUs for close family members and another
new category called I-RADUs, standing for "Income-Restricted
Accessory Dwelling Unit."
Platner’s plucky planners had worked on these ordinances for five years, starting in 2006.
In theory, these ordinances allowed just about every residential property
in Charlestown to build either an AFDU or I-RADU, though when you get into
the details, it's pretty clear Ruthie's ordinances were designed to fail.
In fact, Platner told the council that neither ordinance was likely to work or be enforceable. Nonetheless, the 2011 CCA-controlled Town Council enacted them anyway.
And fail they did. According to our veteran Building and Zoning Officer Joe Warner, Charlestown has never issued a permit for an I-RADU and only 2 or 3 AFDUs get built every year. That’s over a period of 12 years. Has anyone seen any negative effects from these units?
Now in
2024, the CCA is again condemning the new ADU ordinance claiming it will open
the floodgates for all kinds of people, including (clutch your pearls) "People
From Providence."
Except
the only hard evidence we have is Charlestown’s actual experience with I-RADUs
and AFDUs between 2011-2023. The 2011 ordinances didn't cause the end of the world as we know it as Platner and CCA broken-spoke Bonnita Van Slyke
would have you believe.
ADUs can
be a relatively simple way for coastal and rural towns like Charlestown to
generate affordable housing with low impact and low cost. But count on the CCA to find a line of attack.
A neat rhetorical trick
There’s
a device in logic called “reductio ad absurdum” where you destroy any proposal by taking it to the ultimate extreme,
suggesting that if something CAN happen, it WILL happen.
Thus, if
every residential property owner can build an ADU, everyone WILL build an ADU. But ask yourself: how likely is it that YOU will build an ADU? Twelve years of
experience tells us the CCA doomsday vision ain’t gonna happen.
The CCA
uses reductio ad absurdum on every one of their imaginary threats, claiming
that whatever the threat, it will be catastrophic and only the CCA can protect
Charlestown. Each of the CCA’s claims fall apart when you look at the facts and
probabilities and apply a little common sense.
I am
sick of the exodus of Charlestown kids who must leave town because they can't
afford housing (ex-CCA Council member Cody Clarkin is a prime example).
Same for
older residents who need to downsize but can't afford to buy new housing. They
must instead seek help from friends or leave town. Does that sound familiar,
Bonnie?
The CCA
had no affordable housing proposals of its own during its decade of control
over Charlestown, but you can always count on them to come up with lots of objections larded with lies and exaggerations for ideas proposed by
others. 