General provisions
304.1. Zoning affects every structure and use. No structure shall be constructed, erected, placed, moved or maintained nor shall the exterior be altered and no land use shall be commenced or continued within the city unless in conformity with the regulations herein specified for the district in which it is located, except as provided for in section 400, Nonconformance.
304.2. Reduction of lot and yard areas prohibited. No lot, yard, required open space, or off-street parking area shall be so reduced, diminished, or maintained that the yards, other open space, total lot area, or off-street parking area shall be smaller than prescribed by this ordinance.
304.3. Required yards cannot be used by another use or building. No part of a yard, parking space, or other open space required for any building or use for the purpose of complying with the provisions of this ordinance shall be included as part of a yard, parking space, or other open space required under this ordinance for another use or building except as provided in subsection 701.5.
304.4. Only one dwelling structure on any lot. In no case shall there be more than one residential building and its accessory buildings on one lot except that PDR, PUD, and two-family and/or multiple-family developments may permit more than one residential structure per lot in conformity with subsections 308, 309, and 502, respectively, of this ordinance.
304.5. More than one nonresidential use or building on a lot. More than one nonresidential structure may be allowed on a single lot within appropriately zoned nonresidential districts provided however that such uses shall be only those that are permitted within the district in question.
More than one nonresidential use or more than one residential use and non residential use is allowed on a single lot or building within a village district without zoning board of review approval being necessary provided that such uses may be only those that are permitted in the district and provided that each establishment shall not exceed 3,000 square feet. The floor area of buildings within the district may be used for more than one permitted use, whether such uses are allowed by right, or by special permit authorized by the zoning board of review; provided, however, that the building and lot meet the most restrictive dimensional requirements applicable to the individual uses.
The ground floor of a multiuse building shall be used for allowed commercial uses and as a lobby or access for upper story uses. Upper stories shall house residential uses, if applicable.
304.6. Public street access. No structure shall be erected on or moved onto a lot which does not have frontage on a public street equal to or greater than the required minimum frontage in table 2, or elsewhere as required in this ordinance, for the district in which it is located, except as permitted in subsections 405.4 and 405.5. For the purpose of this subsection only, and no other purpose, the following named private streets shall be considered to be the equivalent of public streets as defined in subsection 200.136 in order to satisfy the frontage requirements of this subsection: Ivy Avenue, Hawthorn Avenue, Hemlock Avenue, Woodbine Avenue, Promenade Avenue, Janice Road, Laurel Avenue, Amore Road, Lorna Avenue, Claflin Road, Cooper Avenue, Eighth Avenue, Ninth Avenue, Tenth Avenue, Beach Park Avenue, 11th Avenue, 12th Avenue, 13th Avenue, 14th Avenue, 15th Avenue, "A" Avenue, Eddy Court, Adin Court, Ode Court, Clarence Court, Isabel Court, easterly side of Andrew Comstock Road, and Buttonwoods Avenue from Andrew Comstock Road in an easterly direction to its end.
304.7. Visibility. On any lot, no wall, fence, sign, hedge, shrub, or other obstruction to visibility shall exceed 3½ feet in height within five feet of the front property line.
304.8. Temporary uses permitted. A temporary building for construction materials and/or equipment for a permitted use on a construction site, a temporary office for the sale or rental of real property, if in connection with and incidental and necessary to a real estate development, and a temporary trailer used for residential occupancy necessitated by any loss or damage of a principal structure by fire, hurricane or other natural disaster shall be permitted in any district subject to approval by the building inspector provided that any building permit for any such temporary use shall be valid for not more than six months unless such time period is extended by the building inspector [and] may be permitted as an accessory use, but in no event shall continue for more than 30 days following the completion of such construction or sale or rental of such property.
All commercial trash receptacles and dumpsters are prohibited in all single-family residential zoning districts. Where a trash receptacle or dumpster is used for remodeling, construction of a home, or removal of debris, it shall be allowed for not more than 90 days unless the building official extends such time period. In no event shall the use continue for more than 30 days following the completion of such activity on the property.
Temporary storage containers may be permitted as an accessory use in GB, LI, and GI zones provided that there shall be screening in accordance with section 505 of this ordinance.
304.9. Height restrictions around airport. In any district the height of any structure hereafter erected or altered in the vicinity of the Theodore Francis Green Airport shall not exceed the heights indicated in the airport approach plans pursuant to G.L. 1956, § 1-3-4.
304.10. Handicap access residential. Notwithstanding any other provision of this ordinance, appropriate handicap access to residential structures shall be allowed as a reasonable accommodation for any person(s) residing, or intending to reside, in a residential structure.
304.11. "Adaptive reuse." Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, adaptive reuse for the conversion of any commercial building, including offices, schools, religious facilities, medical buildings, and malls into residential units or mixed use developments which include the development of at least 50 percent of the existing gross floor area into residential units, shall be a permitted use and allowed by specific and objective provisions of a zoning ordinance, except where such is prohibited by environmental land use restrictions recorded on the property by the State of Rhode Island department of environmental management or the United States Environmental Protection Agency preventing the conversion to residential use.
(A) The specific zoning ordinance provisions for adaptive reuse shall exempt adaptive reuse developments from off-street parking requirements of over one space per dwelling unit.
(B) Density.
(1) For projects that meet the following criteria, zoning ordinances shall allow for high density development and shall not limit the density to less than 15 dwelling units per acre:
(a) Where the project is limited to the existing footprint, except that the footprint is allowed to be expanded to accommodate upgrades related to the building and fire codes and utilities; and
(b) The development includes at least 20 percent low- and moderate-income housing; and
(c) The development has access to public sewer and water service or has access to adequate private water, such as a well and and/or wastewater treatment system(s) approved by the relevant state agency for the entire development as applicable.
(2) For all other adaptive reuse projects, the residential density permitted in the converted structure shall be the maximum allowed that otherwise meets all standards of minimum housing and has access to public sewer and water service or has access to adequate private water, such as a well, and wastewater treatment system(s) approved by the relevant state agency for the entire development, as applicable. The density proposed shall be determined to meet all public health and safety standards.
(C) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, for adaptive reuse projects, existing building setbacks shall remain and shall be considered legal nonconforming, but no additional encroachments shall be permitted into any nonconforming setback, unless otherwise allowed by zoning ordinance or relief is granted by the applicable authority.
(D) For adaptive reuse projects, notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, the height of the existing structure, if it exceeds the maximum height of the zoning district, may remain and shall be considered legal nonconforming, and any rooftop construction shall be included within the height exemption
(Ord. No. O-98-13, § I, 5-18-98; Ord. No. O-99-62, § I, 11-15-99; Ord. No. O-11-18, § I(Exh. A), 10-20-11; Ord. No. O-23-24, § I, 12-20-23)