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Westerly
Town of Westerly Zoning Ordinance
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§ 260-50.1

Definitions

When used in § 260-50, the following words and phrases shall have the following meanings:

AFFORDABLE HOUSING — Year-round housing that has a sale price that is within the means of a household of moderate income or less, as that term is defined by the Comprehensive Housing Production and Rehabilitation Act of 2004, RIGL 42-128-8.1(d), as amended. Year-round rental housing must have a rent that is within the means of a low-income household.

APPROVED AFFORDABLE HOUSING PLAN — An affordable housing plan that the Director of the Rhode Island Department of Administration has approved as meeting the guidelines for a comprehensive plan as promulgated by the State Planning Council.

CONSISTENT WITH LOCAL NEEDS —

  • A. Reasonable in view of the state's need for low- and moderate-income housing, considered with the number of low-income persons in Westerly; and
    • (1) The need to protect the health and safety of the community; or
    • (2) The need to promote better site design and building design in relation to the surroundings; or
    • (3) The need to preserve open spaces.
  • B. Not designed or intended to exclude low- and moderate-income residents from Westerly or to discourage or frustrate the likelihood of success of a project.
  • C. Applied as equally as possible to both subsidized and unsubsidized housing.

INCLUSIONARY ZONING — A zoning ordinance provision that requires the development of low- or moderate-income housing as part of residential development.

INCLUSIONARY DWELLING UNIT — A low- or moderate-income dwelling unit developed pursuant to an inclusionary zoning provision.

LAND UNSUITABLE FOR DEVELOPMENT — Land that cannot be included in the buildable acreage of a parcel when calculating the maximum number of lots or dwelling units permitted. Land unsuitable for development consists of wetlands as they are defined by state law but not wetland buffers, land in any public or private easement on which electrical transmission lines or other aboveground structures are built, and areas with a slope greater than 15%.

LOW- AND MODERATE-INCOME HOUSING — Housing that counts toward satisfying a community's goal of maintaining 10% of its housing stock as affordable. The housing must be:

  • A. Affordable to low- or moderate-income households, as defined by state law;
  • B. Subsidized by a federal, state, or town program intended to assist in providing affordable housing; and
  • C. Affordable through a deed restriction or land lease for at least 99 years from initial occupancy.

LOW-INCOME HOUSEHOLD — A household with an adjusted gross income that is 80% or less of the area median income. See the Rhode Island Low- and Moderate-Income Housing Act, RIGL 45-53-3(5).

MODERATE-INCOME HOUSEHOLD — A household with an adjusted gross income that is more than 80% but less than 120% of the area median income.See the Rhode Island Low- and Moderate-Income Housing Act, RIGL 45-53-3(9).

[Amended 9-21-2020 by Ch. No. 1995]

MUNICIPAL SUBSIDY — Assistance the Town provides for construction or rehabilitation of low- and moderate-income housing to encourage the creation of that housing, and to mitigate the cost of the development, pursuant to RIGL 45-53-3(9). Municipal subsidies include, but are not limited to, density bonuses, and payments from the Town's restricted account containing fees in lieu of construction for the creation of additional low- and moderate-income dwelling units.

[Amended 9-21-2020 by Ch. No. 1995]

YIELD PLAN — A plan of a conventional subdivision or land development project that shows the basic maximum number of building lots or dwelling units permitted on the parcel when the lot area and dimensional regulations of the Zoning Ordinance are applied, after land unsuitable for development has been eliminated.