Built by a Rhode Island municipal planner

A planning workspace built for Rhode Island municipalities

Manage your zoning ordinance, track development review projects, monitor pending legislation, and coordinate land use decisions — all in one platform built around the way Rhode Island actually works.

See how it works →
Built for RIGL Title 45 Syncs with OpenGov Permitting No setup, no consultants
munianchor.app · Bristol · Zoning Ordinance
GG
Articles
Art. I — General
Art. II — Definitions
Art. III — Districts
Art. IV — Use regulations
Art. V — Dimensional
Art. VI — Subdivision
Title 45
Dev Review 12
Article III Districts § 12-302
Editing · Amendment 2024-11
§ 12-302  Residential districts
1(a) The R-10 district is established to provide for low-density
2single-family residential development on adequately sized lots.
3(b) Minimum lot area shall be 10,000 square feet, with
4minimum frontage of one hundred (100) feet.
5(c) Front yard setback shall be twenty-five (25) feet.
5(c) Front yard setback shall be thirty (30) feet.
6(d) Building height shall not exceed thirty-five (35) feet.
Setback increase may conflict with RIGL § 45-24-30 minimum standards. Two related sections also reference 25′.
Review →
3 active amendments
OG
OpenGov sync
12 active · 2 overdue
The Problem

Municipal planning work is spread across too many tools

Planning departments manage ordinance amendments, development review timelines, state legislation, meeting schedules, and public hearing records across disconnected Word documents, spreadsheets, permit systems, and email. Context gets lost, deadlines slip, and coordination between staff, boards, and counsel is harder than it needs to be.

Drafting work is scattered

Amendment language lives across Word docs, emails, and red-line PDFs. Reconstructing what changed and why takes hours.

Issues surface late

A reference to a repealed RIGL section or a conflict with an existing definition typically appears in committee — when fixing it is expensive.

Development timelines slip

Statutory deadlines for subdivisions, land development, and master plans are tracked in spreadsheets or calendars with no connection to the rules that set them.

Adoption is hard to follow

Tracking which version was advertised, what was approved, and how that maps back into the codified ordinance is a paperwork problem.

The Approach

One workspace for ordinance drafting, development review, and land use coordination

MuniAnchor helps planning staff, solicitors, administrators, and elected officials work from a shared, structured record — reducing the time and cost tied to routine drafting, deadline tracking, and cross-referencing work that currently happens across disconnected systems.

01

Understand the ordinance while you draft

Work inside a system that understands your ordinance structure, related sections, and relevant statutory references. Staff can analyze the existing code while drafting instead of reconstructing that context manually.

02

Track development projects against real deadlines

Subdivisions, land development, and master plans carry statutory timelines under RIGL Title 45-23. Track completeness reviews, decision deadlines, and planning board schedules in one place — synced with your OpenGov permitting data.

03

Identify issues before formal review

Surface potential statutory conflicts, structural inconsistencies, and coordination issues earlier in the process, before amendments reach legal review or public hearing.

04

Maintain a clear record from draft through adoption

Track amendment text, development review decisions, review stages, and adoption history in one place so staff, boards, councils, and counsel can work from a consistent and reliable record.

Features

Tools designed for real municipal ordinance work

Supporting the full workflow of analyzing ordinances, drafting amendments, coordinating review, and preparing formal adoption documents.

Drafting Assistant

Start with a structured amendment draft

Describe the proposed change in plain language. The platform generates structured amendment language aligned with your ordinance's section hierarchy and formatting conventions so staff can move from concept to working draft faster.

  • Follows existing numbering and formatting conventions
  • Incorporates relevant statutory context
  • Produces redline-ready draft language for review
1Section 3.4 — Permitted Uses
2 
3Single-family dwellings on lots
4of not less than 40,000 sq ft.
3Single-family and two-family
4dwellings on lots of not less
5than 20,000 sq ft per unit.
6 
7  ← consistent with § 45-24-33
Cross-Reference Engine

Understand how sections connect

Ordinance provisions are linked to relevant sections of RIGL Title 45, with pending legislation highlighted when it may affect those provisions — helping staff and counsel identify downstream impacts earlier.

  • Automatic ordinance-to-statute cross-referencing
  • Legislative monitoring tied to affected sections
  • Side-by-side comparison with other RI municipal ordinances
 Research Sidebar
  Ordinances RIGL Bills
  
•§ 45-24-31 Enactments
 Direct match · Cited in §1.2, §3.4
•§ 45-24-33 Permitted Uses
 Direct match · Cited in §3.4
  
•§ 45-24-37 Special Permits
 Keyword match · zoning, permits
Development Review Tracker

Track land development projects against statutory deadlines

Monitor active subdivision, land development, and master plan applications alongside their RIGL Title 45-23 deadlines. See which projects are approaching decision dates, overdue, or scheduled for upcoming planning board and TRC meetings — all in one dashboard.

  • Statutory deadline calculation per RIGL Title 45 Chapter 23
  • Planning board and TRC meeting scheduling
  • OpenGov Permitting API sync for automatic project import
  • Unified calendar with amendment hearings and dev review milestones
Development Review
2
Overdue
3
Due Soon
8
Active
Elm St Subdivision 3 days overdue
Pine Ridge Mixed-Use Due Apr 22
Waterman Plaza PUD PB Meeting May 6
Amendment Workflow

Track amendments from draft to adoption

Track each amendment through staff review, board recommendation, public hearing, council adoption, signature, and effective date. Group related changes into coordinated amendment packages.

  • Stage-based amendment tracking
  • Amendment packages for coordinated updates
  • Clean and redline export for formal adoption documents
Amendment Package: Density Reform
Draft → Planning Board → Public Hearing → Council
§ 3.4 — Permitted UsesModified
§ 3.5 — Lot RequirementsModified
§ 2.1 — DefinitionsNew terms
Research Sidebar

Keep research and references in context

View related ordinance sections from other municipalities, statutory citations, and supporting materials without leaving the workspace, reducing time spent searching across multiple documents and systems.

  • Compare language across RI municipalities
  • Title 45 references shown in context
  • Pending legislation flagged alongside affected sections
Section 3.4 — Permitted Uses Research →
Ordinance text
The following uses are permitted in R-200 zones subject to the provisions of § 45-24-33 and the dimensional requirements of Article IV...
Related
§ 45-24-33
Permitted uses
Cranston §3.2
Similar provision
Quorum

Discuss the code with other planners

A built-in discussion board where municipal planners can ask questions about specific ordinance sections, interpret state law, flag pending legislation, and share strategies across municipalities.

  • Threads linked to specific ordinance sections, RIGL statutes, and bills
  • Start a discussion directly from the section viewer or RIGL browser
  • Cross-municipality advice on zoning code, amendments, and best practices
Quorum
Zoning Code State Law Legislation Best Practices
Zoning Code Smithfield § 3.4
Two-family use in R-200 — lot size question
jdoe · 4 replies
State Law RIGL 45-24-37
Special permit vs. variance under 45-24-37
msmith · 7 replies
How It Works

A clearer process from analysis to adoption

1

Analyze the ordinance

Browse your ordinance in a structured format with definitions, cross-references, and related sections visible in context. Compare language with other Rhode Island municipalities.

2

Track active projects

Import development review projects from OpenGov or create them manually. The platform calculates statutory deadlines and surfaces upcoming meetings and overdue items automatically.

3

Draft and coordinate

Generate amendment language or compose it manually. Work from a single amendment record while staff, counsel, boards, and councils review the proposed changes.

4

Export for formal action

Produce clean and redline amendment documents ready for meeting packets, hearings, and adoption. Track the full lifecycle from draft through effective date.

Built in Practice

Built for the realities of municipal ordinance work

Developed through hands-on work in a Rhode Island planning department, MuniAnchor is structured around the tasks planning staff actually handle: reading ordinance files, organizing them into a navigable section hierarchy, tracking development review deadlines, comparing language across municipalities, and drafting amendments with Title 45 close at hand. It also monitors pending state legislation and syncs with OpenGov permitting data so development review timelines stay current. Edits are tracked in redline and organized around the local adoption process, from draft through planning board review, public hearing, council vote, and adoption.

GG
Gregory Guertin
Rhode Island municipal planner
Structures ordinance files into navigable section hierarchies
Compares ordinance language across RI municipalities
Cross-references RIGL Title 45 and pending state legislation
Tracks development review deadlines and amendment adoption
Security & Trust

Trusted with municipal records

Ordinance text, amendment history, and applicant data deserve real protection. MuniAnchor is built with layered access controls, encryption in transit, per-workspace isolation, and a complete audit trail.

Multi-factor authentication

App-based 2FA on every account, with SSO for municipalities that want it.

Per-workspace isolation

One town can never see another's drafts, records, or files.

Encryption in transit

All traffic over HTTPS with HSTS; managed, encrypted database.

Audit logging

An immutable, IP-stamped record of every security-relevant action.

Your data isn't used to train AI

AI assists drafting; nothing is adopted automatically.

Continuous dependency scanning

Known-vulnerable code is blocked before it ships.

Read our full security overview →
Pricing

Simple annual pricing for municipal planning workspaces

MuniAnchor is priced by workspace because planning work is shared across staff, boards, solicitors, administrators, and elected officials — not just individual logins.

Starter
Free
For exploring Rhode Island planning tools and read-only reference materials.
  • Read-only ordinance access
  • RIGL Title 45 browser
  • Cross-municipality comparison
  • Legislative bill monitor
  • Quorum discussion board
Professional
$3,600 /year
or $300/month, billed annually
For planning departments managing ordinance amendments, legislative monitoring, development review, and statutory deadlines.
  • Everything in Starter
  • AI-assisted amendment drafting
  • Amendment workflow & packages
  • Development review tracker
  • Statutory deadline tracking
  • Clean & redline document export
  • Research sidebar
  • Up to 5 staff/editor users
Municipal
$6,000 /year
or $500/month, billed annually
For town-wide planning coordination across staff, boards, solicitors, administrators, and reviewers.
  • Everything in Professional
  • Board, solicitor, administrator access
  • Reviewer & internal viewer roles
  • Up to 15 internal users
  • Enhanced onboarding & support
Enterprise
Custom
For multi-municipality deployments, regional agencies, state agencies, or consultant teams.
  • Everything in Municipal
  • Multiple municipal workspaces
  • Custom integrations
  • SSO & API access
  • Dedicated support
Contact us

MuniAnchor is priced as an annual municipal workspace rather than a traditional per-seat subscription. The platform supports the shared work of local planning departments: ordinance management, development review tracking, legislative monitoring, amendment drafting, and statutory cross-referencing under Rhode Island law. For many municipalities, the annual cost is less than a single outsourced amendment project, a few hours of solicitor review per month, or the staff time spent rebuilding trackers, searching ordinances, and managing amendment records manually.

Compare plans

Feature-by-feature comparison

Starter
Professional
Municipal
Enterprise
Read & Research
Read-only ordinance access
✓
✓
✓
✓
RIGL Title 45 browser
✓
✓
✓
✓
Cross-municipality comparison
Limited
✓
✓
✓
Legislative bill monitor
Limited
✓
✓
✓
Quorum discussion board
✓
✓
✓
✓
Drafting & Amendments
AI-assisted amendment drafting
—
✓
✓
✓
Constraint & structure checks
—
✓
✓
✓
Amendment workflow & packages
—
✓
✓
✓
Clean & redline document export
—
✓
✓
✓
Research sidebar
—
✓
✓
✓
Development Review
Development review tracking
—
✓
✓
✓
Statutory deadline tracking
—
✓
✓
✓
Planning Board / TRC scheduling
—
Limited
✓
✓
OpenGov Permitting API sync
—
Add-on
Add-on
Custom
Workspace & Support
Municipal workspace
—
1 included
1 included
Custom
Staff / editor users
—
Up to 5
Up to 15
Custom
Board / solicitor / admin access
—
Limited
✓
✓
Multiple municipal workspaces
—
—
Add-on
✓
Custom integrations
—
—
Add-on
Custom
Onboarding & support
Self-guided
Standard
Enhanced
Dedicated

MuniAnchor supports municipal planning workflows, ordinance research, and amendment preparation. It is not a substitute for municipal legal counsel or an official codification service.

FAQ

Common questions

Municipal planning is shared work. A planning department's records, amendments, development review timelines, and statutory references are used by staff, boards, solicitors, administrators, and elected officials — not just one person. Pricing by workspace rather than by seat encourages broader municipal visibility into planning work without making each board member or reviewer feel like an extra line item.

No. This is a drafting, research, and coordination tool. It can help surface likely statutory or structural issues earlier, but it does not provide legal advice or replace solicitor review. The goal is to make legal review more focused and efficient.

No. Some projects will still warrant outside planning support. This platform helps municipalities handle more routine ordinance drafting, coordination, comparison, and early-stage analysis in-house so outside consultant time can be used more selectively and more effectively.

It is built for Rhode Island municipal planning departments, but it is also useful for solicitors, administrators, and elected officials who need a clearer view of amendment language, supporting context, and adoption status. It is designed to improve coordination across the full local review process.

The platform works from your uploaded ordinance materials, publicly available Rhode Island statutes, publicly filed legislative bills, and ordinance material made available for comparison. Private workspace content remains private to your account or organization.

You describe the amendment you want in plain language. The platform gathers the relevant ordinance context, connected statutory material, and drafting patterns from your code, then generates proposed language for staff review and revision. Nothing is adopted or published automatically. You remain responsible for reviewing and approving every change.

Yes. The platform can ingest a .docx ordinance and organize it into a structured hierarchy for browsing, drafting, and comparison. PDF import can also be used for reference materials. It is built to handle typical municipal ordinance organization, including articles, sections, and subsections.

Currently, yes. This platform is built specifically for Rhode Island municipal planning, with deep attention to Title 45 and the state legislative environment. Other states may come later, but Rhode Island is the current focus.

Your ordinance text, amendments, and workspace history remain under your control within your workspace. Your private data is not used to train outside AI models. Enterprise deployments can include on-premise options for organizations that need tighter control over storage and access.

Start exploring

See how Rhode Island municipalities can manage ordinances, track development projects, and coordinate land use decisions more clearly.