Amends the zoning ordinances to allow the town to restrict occupancy to one unrelated person per bedroom in a dwelling, up to a five (5) bedroom unit. Units with more than five (5) bedrooms may be limited to five (5) unrelated persons per unit.

Plain-English Summary

This bill would change Rhode Island's zoning laws to give towns and cities a new tool for regulating how many unrelated people can live together in a home. Specifically, it would allow a town to set occupancy limits based on the number of bedrooms — permitting no more than one unrelated person per bedroom, up to a maximum of five unrelated people in any home, regardless of how many bedrooms it has. For example, a four-bedroom house could have no more than four unrelated people living in it, and a six-bedroom house could still be capped at five unrelated occupants.

It's important to note what "unrelated" means here: this rule would only apply to people who are not family members. A household made up entirely of family members (such as parents, children, or siblings) would not be subject to these limits. The restrictions would only kick in when a household includes people who have no legal family relationship to one another, such as roommates or housemates.

This bill could affect college students, young professionals, or others who share housing with non-family members, as it could limit how many people can split the cost of rent in a single home. It could also affect landlords who rent to groups of unrelated tenants. Supporters of similar laws often argue they help manage neighborhood density and parking, while critics sometimes argue they can reduce affordable housing options — but under this bill, each individual town would decide whether or not to actually adopt these restrictions.

The bill was introduced in the Rhode Island House and referred to the Municipal Government & Housing Committee, which has recommended holding it for further study, meaning it has not yet moved forward in the legislative process.