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S2268AaaHousing

Towns and Cities - Low and Moderate Income Housing

This bill allows faith-based organizations to use a simplified, faster application process to build affordable housing on their property.

Introduced37 Yea0 Nay1 Not voting
Population
Affected
28
Email Legislator
Introduced Jan 23, 2026Committee Senate Housing & Municipal Government

Plain-English Summary

This bill allows religious and faith-based organizations to use a streamlined application process to build affordable housing on their property. The process bypasses certain public hearings and standard local board reviews. To qualify, organizations must have held federal tax-exempt status for at least three years, and at least 50% of the new units must be designated for low- or moderate-income housing. The development can also include small commercial spaces, childcare, or educational facilities. The bill maintains existing historical preservation rules and requires all housing to comply with federal and state fair housing laws.

For younger readers

This bill creates a faster rule for churches and religious groups that want to build homes for people who don't have a lot of money. Usually, building new homes takes a long time because groups have to ask the town for permission in many different meetings. This bill lets these religious groups fill out just one form to get permission faster, as long as half of the new homes are for people who need cheaper housing. The groups can also build small spaces for things like daycare or classes.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
Faith-based organizationsLow- and moderate-income individualsMunicipal administrative officersLocal zoning boardsHistorical preservation commissions
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

There could be Establishment Clause (First Amendment) concerns because the bill grants a special, streamlined zoning and permitting process exclusively to religious and "faith-based" organizations that is not available to secular nonprofits or private developers. By providing a unique legal benefit solely based on religious affiliation, it could face challenges regarding the separation of church and state.

Estimated cost
None
Estimated revenue
None

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Increases the supply of affordable housing for low- and moderate-income individuals by removing bureaucratic barriers for faith-based developments.
  • Supports community welfare by allowing developments to include essential neighborhood services like childcare, educational facilities, and community centers.
  • Enforces strict adherence to the Fair Housing Act, ensuring that marginalized groups are protected from discrimination in these new housing developments.
  • Bypasses public hearing requirements, which reduces the community's ability to voice concerns or advocate for specific community needs during the planning process.
  • Grants special development privileges exclusively to religious organizations, potentially raising concerns about the separation of church and state or excluding secular nonprofits from the same benefits.
  • Only requires 50% of the units to be affordable, allowing developers to rent or sell the other half at market rates, which may not fully maximize the potential for low-income housing relief.
For Conservatives
  • Empowers faith-based organizations to utilize their private property more freely by reducing government red tape and bureaucratic delays.
  • Relies on private and religious entities, rather than government-funded public housing projects, to address local housing shortages.
  • Implements a strict 90-day timeline for government officials to approve applications, automatically granting approval if the government fails to act promptly, which limits bureaucratic overreach.
  • Overrides local municipal zoning authority, forcing towns to accept high-density affordable housing even if they have already met their state-mandated affordable housing quotas.
  • Subjects the private property developments to strict federal and state Fair Housing regulations, which limits the religious organization's freedom to choose who can live in the housing.
  • Imposes strict historical preservation mandates that prevent property owners from demolishing or altering older structures on their land without state approval, restricting private property rights.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

3 versions
Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 45 additions

SECTION 1. Chapter 45-53 of the General Laws entitled "Low and Moderate Income Housing" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section: 45-53-17. Faith-based affordable housing development.

(a) An applicant may submit a single application for a comprehensive permit to build low- or moderate-income housing on land owned by a religious organization, association, or society, or a nonprofit organization that is operated, supervised, or controlled by a religious organization, association, or society (collectively, “faith-based organizations”) in lieu of separate applications to the applicable local boards. This procedure is available in a city or town regardless of whether the city or town has low- or moderate-income housing in excess of ten percent (10%) of its year-round housing units, but is only available for applications that comply with the following criteria:

(1) At least fifty percent (50%) of the housing to be developed is low- or moderate-income housing;

(2) The land proposed for development is owned or held in trust for use by a faith-based organization on the date of the comprehensive permit application. For the purposes of this section, a faith-based organization that subjects a parcel of land to a long-term ground lease of not less than ninety-nine (99) years shall still be considered to own the land; and

(3) The land proposed for development is owned by a faith-based organization that has had federal tax-exempt nonprofit status for at least three (3) years prior to application.

(b) A comprehensive permit application submitted under this section may request adjustments for ancillary uses that support the mission of the faith-based organization, including, but not limited to, childcare, educational, and community service facilities, or small-scale commercial uses not to exceed two thousand (2,000) square feet of gross floor area. (c)(1) Any comprehensive permit applicant may elect to apply for and be heard on master plan review prior to preliminary plan submission consistent with § 45-53-4(d)(2).

(2) An application submitted under this section is not subject to a public hearing under §45- 53-4(d)(3)(iii)(A). Once an administrative officer has certified a preliminary plan application as complete or incomplete pursuant to § 45-53-4(d)(3)(ii), the officer shall render a decision on the application and shall make findings on each of the standards described in § 45-53-4(d)(3)(iii)(E), where applicable, within ninety (90) days of the date the application is certified complete, or within a further amount of time that may be consented to by the applicant through the submission of a written consent. Failure to act within the prescribed period constitutes approval of the preliminary plan, and a certificate as to the failure to act within the required time and the resulting approval shall be issued on request of the applicant.

(3) An application submitted under this section is subject to final plan review as provided in § 45-53-4(d)(4), except that any requests for major changes (as defined in the local regulations) shall be submitted to the administrative officer.

(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit or override the provisions of chapter 45.1 of title 42 (Antiquities Act of Rhode Island), historical area zoning established pursuant to chapter 24.1 of title 45, or the authority of the Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission established pursuant to chapter 45 of title 42.

(e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to permit the demolition of any property listed in the National Register of Historic Places or the State Register of Historic Places absent written approval from the state historic preservation officer.

(f) Housing units offered for rent or sale after having been built under a comprehensive permit issued under this section remain subject to the federal Fair Housing Act pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 3607(b) and 24 C.F.R. §§ 100.300-308 and the Rhode Island Fair Housing Practices Act pursuant to chapter 37 of title 34.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.