NEWPORT -- In its first life, the Rhode
Island Low and Moderate Income Housing Act did little to remedy what
lawmakers said was an acute shortage of safe, sanitary and affordable
housing.
The law sparked about a dozen development proposals from 1991 to 2002,
and most faced legal challenges, John O'Brien, chief of statewide
planning, told land-use officials who gathered here last week.
Expectations are much higher for the state's new housing law, O'Brien
and other speakers said during a session at the American Planning
Association Southern New England fall conference.
Most impressive is that 26 of 29 towns have won state approval of local
affordable housing plans that are required under the new law, said Susan
Boddington, a deputy director at the Rhode Island Housing & Mortgage
Finance Corporation.
Also impressive is that most of those plans have provisions to encourage
the fast-track affordable developments that towns shunned under the old
law, Boddington said.
Speakers also said there is greater acceptance of the need for
affordable housing.
"We have seen significant change in attitude among local officials,"
said Scott Wolf, executive director of Grow Smart Rhode Island.
That's the good news.
The other side of the story, speakers said, is that Rhode Island housing
prices have gone from high to higher, and that means local strategies
alone aren't going to produce enough housing for people who can't afford
to rent or buy.
"I think that we've come a long way. I think that we need money to get
further along," Wolf said.
Wolf declined to pick a figure after his talk, but he said the state
needs to boost its $7.5 million annual allocation for affordable housing
production by "several times." He said there is talk of providing money
through a bond issue but stressed that should not be a substitute for
annual allocations in the state budget.
Money isn't all that's needed.
Now that most of the towns have state-approved plans, they have to adopt
ordinances and zoning changes to implement the strategies that are
supposed to encourage affordable housing creation, O'Brien and
Boddington said.
The affordable housing law calls for 10 percent of the year-round
housing in each community to be subsidized and income-restricted, thus
meeting the definition of affordable.
Tom Kravitz, Burrillville's planner, told the gathering that he started
working on his town's plan in 2001, when the old law gave the towns the
option of developing a plan.
Researching and writing the plan took about 200 hours, including late
nights and weekends, he said.
"I can't say that I would write one again," he said.
But Burrillville was one of the first towns to have a plan approved by
the state, O'Brien said. The plan calls for the Burrillville to have 732
affordable units by 2025. The town now has 417, according to a Statewide
Planning report.
The three towns that do not have state-approved plans are Barrington,
Foster and Richmond, according to the report.
Derry Riding, a state planner, said more than 300 people from Rhode
Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts attended the two-day conference,
held at the Hyatt Regency. About 60 people attended the Thursday
afternoon conference on implementing the new affordable housing law.
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