WARREN -- Days shy of tomorrow's deadline, the town's affordable
housing plan was approved by the state.
The plan, which will take effect as amendments to the town's
comprehensive development plan, will encourage development of affordable
housing and give town officials a say in where the units will be built
and how they will look.
It also gives officials safeguards in limiting development proposals
that don't fit with the town's long-term housing plan, Town Planner
Michelle Maher said.
As required under the state's Low and Moderate Income Housing Act,
municipalities have until Friday to obtain state approval. The General
Assembly extended the original June 30 deadline to give communities more
time to comply.
Adopted by the council in November 2004, the town's plan was submitted
to state reviewers last year. Maher received preliminary approval for
Warren's plan from Rhode Island Housing on Tuesday.
The law requires more than 10 percent of housing in each of the state's
39 cities and towns to meet the state's definition of "affordable" --
subsidized and income restricted -- within 20 years' time.
Warren's plan, which targets pockets of under-used property in the
downtown area, focuses on converting old commercial and town-owned
property such as mills and school buildings, Maher said. More than 70
percent of the town's low- to moderate-income population is concentrated
in downtown Warren, she said.
"We wanted to put it where the people actually live," Maher said.
Officials hope to entice developers to create affordable housing by
offering tax breaks and waiving fees during the permitting process, but
won't force them to include affordable housing in their development
plans.
"The town of Warren didn't want to cram this down people's throats," she
said.
Often, developers build one market-rate unit for every
affordable-housing unit, to cover costs and make a profit, which makes
significantly increasing the number of affordable housing units a
financial challenge, Maher said.
"There are some communities where it will never be met," she said.
But Warren is well on its way, state planner Paul Gonsalves said. With
an affordable housing rate of 4.6 percent, Warren is faring well
compared to other municipalities. Of the town's 4,889 housing units, 224
are currently reserved for low- to moderate-income residents.
"They're about halfway there," he said.
Some towns that still have not received state approval of their plans,
such as Barrington, Foster, Glocester, Scituate, Tiverton, and West
Greenwich, will most likely be granted an extension, Gonsalves said.
Barrington's affordable housing rate is 1.6 percent.
Once approved, the affordable housing plans will serve as a long-term
but attainable plan for reaching the state's 10 percent mark, he said.
"The overall goal is to produce affordable housing, but it has to be
done in a sensible manner," Gonsalves said.
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