§ 260-101.1
Off-site exactions
[Amended 12-11-2023 by Ord. No. 920-H]
- 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:
- (1) Purchase, deed-restrict and rehabilitate existing buildings to create affordable units;
- (2) New construction of off-site affordable units.
- 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 dimensional variance from the permitting authority that incorporates any necessary deviations from the ordinary dimensional standards.