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4/8/2025
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House OKs bill to ensure housing development within urban bounds isn’t limited to single-family
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STATE HOUSE – The House of Representatives today approved legislation sponsored by Rep. Jason Knight to ensure that some multi-family housing development is allowed in areas within Rhode Island’s Urban Services Boundary that have available public water and sewer capacity. The legislation now goes to the Senate.
The legislation (2025-H 5796aa), which is one of the 12 bills in Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi’s 2025 legislative package to address housing, would require that local zoning ordinances provide options that aren’t limited to detached single-family housing in those areas.
“Rhode Island desperately needs more housing units to be developed, and in particular, we need housing that ordinary people can afford. That means we need all kinds of housing, not just single-family homes on large lots,” said Representative Knight (D-Dist. 67, Barrington, Warren). “Areas that are within the Urban Services Boundary and have available water and sewer lines shouldn’t be limited to single family housing development. Allowing other options will put roofs over the heads of more Rhode Islanders more quickly and more affordably, and can contribute to vibrant, walkable neighborhoods while also preventing urban sprawl.”
The Urban Services Boundary is identified by the Rhode Island Statewide Planning Program, and it includes the more densely populated areas, almost all of which are in the eastern half of the state, stretching from Woonsocket through the area surrounding Providence and down the coast to parts of Narragansett, as well as parts of the East Bay and Aquidneck Island. A few densely developed pockets in other areas are also included.
The requirement in the bill would apply only to the areas of cities and towns that are within the Urban Services Boundary, and only in those areas that have public water and sewer service with available capacity. It would not prohibit single-family housing development there; it would require only that municipal zoning codes allow other options there as well.
For more information, contact:
Meredyth R. Whitty, Publicist
State House Room 20
Providence, RI 02903
(401) 222-1923
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