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7/2/2025
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New law ensures housing development within urban bounds isn’t limited to single-family
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STATE HOUSE – A new law sponsored by Rep. Jason Knight and Sen. Alana M. DiMario will 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 was signed into law yesterday after passage by the General Assembly June 21.
The legislation (2025-H 5796aa, 2025-S 1092), which was included in Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi’s 2025 legislative package to address housing, requires that local zoning ordinances provide options that aren’t limited to detached single-family housing in those areas. The bill takes effect Jan. 1.
“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 suburban sprawl.”
Said Senator DiMario (D-Dist. 36, Narragansett, North Kingstown, New Shoreham), “This bill encourages smart development that allows more homes that meet the needs of Rhode Islanders across ages and incomes to be built affordably and efficiently in places that are already developed neighborhoods. This can help encourage development of more sustainable communities and livelier main streets — the kinds of neighborhoods where people want to live.”
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 of the state are also included.
The requirement in the bill applies 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 does not prohibit single-family housing development there; it requires 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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