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S 2272Cities & Towns

Towns and Cities - Multifamily Housing Act

Cities over 40,000 people must allow duplexes in single-family zones or pay a fee on property sales.

Held for study
Population
Affected
62
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Introduced Jan 23, 2026Committee Senate Housing & Municipal Government

Plain-English Summary

This legislation, titled the "Multifamily Housing Act," requires Rhode Island municipalities with populations of 40,000 or more to allow the development of "middle housing" in areas currently zoned for single-family homes. Middle housing includes duplexes, triplexes, and townhouses. The bill aims to increase housing density and walkability. While local governments can regulate design, they cannot unreasonably restrict these developments. However, municipalities may designate specific zones that are exempt from this requirement; property sales within these exempt zones will be subject to a 1% fee to fund affordable housing grants.

For younger readers

This new law changes the rules for building homes in big cities in Rhode Island. Right now, in many neighborhoods, you are only allowed to build one house for one family on a piece of land. This law says that in cities with a lot of people, builders must be allowed to build houses that are connected, like townhouses, or houses where two or three families can live. This is to help more people find homes. If a city really does not want these new homes in certain spots, they can say no, but then people selling land there have to pay extra money to help others.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
Homeowners in cities with 40k+ populationReal Estate DevelopersMunicipal Planning DepartmentsProperty Sellers in exempt zonesRenters seeking housing
Impacted communities
Providence, Cranston, Warwick, Pawtucket, East Providence, Woonsocket

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely

Estimated cost
Property Sellers in Exempt Zones: 1% of sale price
Estimated revenue
Amount unknown

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Promotes environmental sustainability by encouraging higher-density, walkable urban communities, which reduces reliance on automobiles and lowers carbon footprints.
  • Addresses systemic housing inequality by effectively banning exclusionary single-family zoning in major cities, allowing for more diverse housing options like duplexes and triplexes.
  • Generates revenue for affordable housing grant programs through the 1% transactional fee imposed on properties in zones that municipalities choose to exempt from the new density requirements.
  • Allows wealthy communities or neighborhoods to "buy their way out" of integration and density requirements by paying the 1% exclusionary zoning fee, potentially maintaining segregation.
  • Lacks explicit requirements for the new "middle housing" units to be affordable, which could lead to developers building high-end market-rate units that contribute to gentrification.
  • Does not apply to municipalities with populations under 40,000, leaving many wealthy, suburban towns completely exempt from the responsibility to increase housing density.
For Conservatives
  • Expands property rights by allowing landowners to develop their property with duplexes or townhouses without being restricted by strict single-family zoning mandates.
  • Increases the housing supply through free-market principles rather than government-subsidized construction, potentially stabilizing prices through competition.
  • Reduces the regulatory power of local planning boards to block development, streamlining the process for private developers and property owners.
  • Undermines local control and home rule by imposing state-level mandates on municipal zoning decisions, disregarding the specific desires of local residents.
  • Imposes a new 1% "transactional fee" on property sales in exempt zones, which functions as a tax on real estate transactions and penalizes specific communities.
  • Threatens the traditional character and quiet atmosphere of suburban single-family neighborhoods by forcing increased density and population congestion.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 51 additions

SECTION 1. Title 45 of the General Laws entitled "TOWNS AND CITIES" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following chapter: 45-24.8-1. Short title. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Multifamily Housing Act". 45-24.8-2. Legislative purpose. It is the purpose of this chapter to encourage the development of higher-density, mixed use, and walkable urban communities. Guaranteeing a right for new construction in urban areas at a base density of at least two (2) units per parcel would reduce the use of automobiles and create development of middle housing within areas formerly zoned as single-family areas. 45-24.8-3. Definitions. As used in this chapter, the following words and phrases shall have the following meanings:

(1) "Cottage clusters" means groupings of no fewer than four (4) detached housing units per acre with a footprint of less than nine hundred square feet (900 sq. ft. ) each, that include a common courtyard.

(2) "Middle housing" means duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes, cottage clusters and townhouses.

(3) "Townhouse" means a dwelling unit constructed in a row of two (2) or more attached units, where each dwelling unit is located on an individual lot or parcel and shares at least one common wall with an adjacent unit.

(4) "Urban growth boundary" means and refers to rules that designate what areas can and cannot be developed around a city center. 45-24.8-4. Permissible middle housing.

(a) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, any property within a municipality with a population of forty-thousand (40,000) or more, is hereby permitted to be developed as follows:

(1) All middle housing types in areas zoned for residential use that allow for the development of detached single-family dwellings;

(2) A duplex on each lot or parcel zoned for residential use that allows for development of detached single-family dwellings; and

(3) A duplex on each lot parcel zoned for residential use that allows for the development of detached single-family dwellings.

(b) Nothing in this section prohibits a local governing body from allowing other types of middle housing in addition to duplexes.

(c) This section does not apply to municipalities with a population of less than forty- thousand (40,000); lands not within an urban growth boundary; lands not zoned for residential use, including lands primarily zoned as commercial, industrial, agricultural; those lands used for public uses or, lands zoned under an interim zoning designation that maintains the land's potential for planned urban development.

(d) Local governing bodies may regulate site and design of middle housing required to be permitted under this section; provided that, regulations do not, individually or cumulatively, discourage the development of all middle housing types permitted in the area through unreasonable costs or delay. Local governing bodies may regulate middle housing to comply with protective measures adopted pursuant to statewide land use planning goals and the municipalities' comprehensive plan.

(e) This section does not prohibit local governing bodies from permitting:

(1) Single-family dwellings in areas zoned to allow for single-family dwellings; or

(2) Middle housing in areas not required under this section.

(f) The state building code standards committee shall develop a model middle housing ordinance no later than December 31, 2026.

(g) Any municipality may designate zones that exempts the property within the subject zones from compliance with this section. Any property exempted from compliance with this section is subject to a one percent (1%) exclusionary zoning transactional fee. Said fee shall be remitted to Rhode Island housing in support of affordable housing grant programs.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.