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7/1/2025
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New law sponsored by Craven, Bissaillon to help ease housing crisis
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Legislation is part of Speaker Shekarchi’s 2025 housing package
STATE HOUSE – A new law sponsored by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Robert E. Craven Sr. and Senate Housing and Municipal Government Committee Chairman Jacob E. Bissaillon that will allow housing construction in more areas.
The new law (2025-H 5800A, 2025-S 1090A), which takes effect on Jan. 1, 2026, will require municipalities to provide for village or mixed-use zoning to allow residential use in some or all areas of their commercial zoning districts.
The legislation was approved by lawmakers June 21 and signed into law Friday, and was part of the housing package backed this year by House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi (D-Dist. 23, Warwick), who has made housing the top priority of the House and has worked to enact such a package each of the five years he has been speaker.
“While our state desperately needs new housing construction of all kinds, this bill will help ease the difficult process of building more housing by taking advantage of land that has historically been off-limits to residential zoning. The only way out of Rhode Island’s housing crisis is to build more units and this piece of legislation will assist in making that goal a reality,” said Chairman Craven (D-Dist. 32, North Kingstown).
“Addressing our housing crisis isn’t just about building more units — it’s about reimagining the communities we want to live in. By allowing residential development in commercial areas, this legislation helps us create neighborhoods where people can live, work, and shop in the same place. It brings us closer to a vision of community that is more connected, more accessible, and ultimately more human,” said Chairman Bissaillon (D-Dist. 1, Providence).
For more information, contact:
Andrew Caruolo, Publicist
State House Room 20
Providence, RI 02903
(401)222-6124
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