S 3319Cities & Towns

Towns and Cities - Ordinances

This bill allows East Providence to require and regulate licenses for hotels, motels, boardinghouses, and catering establishments.

Introduced

Population
Affected

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Introduced May 26, 2026Committee Senate Housing & Municipal Government

Plain-English Summary

This bill allows the city of East Providence to create local laws requiring licenses for hotels, motels, inns, boardinghouses, and catering businesses. The city can set fees for these licenses and make rules about where they can be located, how many are allowed, and how they operate. Before anyone can get a newly required license, they must first get approval from the East Providence chief of police, the building inspector, and the mayor. The city is also given the power to revoke these licenses.

For younger readers

This bill gives the city of East Providence the power to make rules for places where people pay to sleep, like hotels, and businesses that make food for big parties, called caterers. If someone wants to open one of these businesses, they have to pay a fee and get a special permission paper called a license. Before they get the license, the town's police chief, the building inspector, and the mayor all have to say it is okay. If the business breaks the rules, the city can take the license away.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups

Hotel and motel ownersBoardinghouse operatorsCatering businessesCity officials (Mayor, Police Chief, Building Inspector)Residents of East Providence

Impacted communities

East Providence

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

Moderate risk

There is a moderate due process risk under the 14th Amendment. The bill allows for the "discretionary issuance and revocation" of licenses and requires approval from the police chief and mayor without establishing objective, standardized criteria for these decisions. This lack of clear standards could lead to arbitrary, capricious, or discriminatory approvals and denials, potentially violating a business owner's right to procedural and substantive due process.

Estimated cost

Amount unknown

Estimated revenue

Amount unknown

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints

For Progressives

Gives the local community greater oversight over commercial lodging and catering businesses, ensuring they operate safely and responsibly for the welfare of the community.
Allows the building inspector to vet applications, which can help prevent unsafe living conditions or landlord exploitation in boardinghouses and motels.
Empowers the city to limit the number and location of these businesses, potentially preventing neighborhood disruption and preserving community character.
Requiring police chief approval could introduce systemic bias and unfairly target minority or immigrant business owners seeking to open catering or lodging businesses.
Restricting or heavily regulating boardinghouses and motels may reduce the availability of temporary, affordable housing options for low-income individuals and families.
Granting the mayor and police discretionary power over license approvals could lead to political favoritism, corruption, and a lack of transparency in local government.

For Conservatives

Strengthens local control by allowing the city of East Providence to govern and regulate businesses operating within its own municipal borders.
Enhances public safety and respect for the rule of law by requiring the chief of police to approve licenses for transient lodging facilities.
Protects traditional community standards and property values by giving the city authority to limit the location and number of motels and boardinghouses.
Infringes on corporate freedom and free enterprise by imposing new regulatory burdens, fees, and licensing requirements on private businesses.
Grants excessive discretionary power to local officials, which could easily be weaponized against political opponents or disfavored business owners.
Creates unnecessary bureaucratic red tape by requiring three separate executive approvals (police chief, building inspector, and mayor) just to operate a catering or lodging business.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 11 additions

SECTION 1. Chapter 45-6 of the General Laws entitled "Ordinances" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section: 45-6-13. Hotel, motel, inn, boardinghouse, or catering establishment – Application; approval. The city of East Providence, is hereby authorized and empowered to provide, by ordinance, for the discretionary issuance and revocation of licenses to any person or business entity seeking to engage in the business of operating a hotel, motel, inn, boardinghouse, or catering establishment, to establish reasonable fees for the issuance and revocation, and to promulgate, by ordinance, reasonable rules and regulations as to the duration, location, number, and operation of those licenses within the city. Prior to issuance of a license by the city clerk, pursuant to this section, any person or business entity seeking to engage in the business of operating a hotel, motel, inn, boardinghouse, or catering establishment shall first obtain approval of the chief of police, the building inspector and the mayor.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.