Eliminates mandated housing densities/density bonuses for public drinking water supply watersheds/groundwater. Requires densities not exceed water availability, introduce pollution, stay within public water or sewer system capacity limits.

Plain-English Summary

This bill would change Rhode Island's existing affordable housing laws by removing requirements that force cities and towns to allow higher-density housing development in areas near public drinking water sources — specifically, watersheds and groundwater recharge areas that supply drinking water to the public. Under current state law, municipalities are sometimes required to permit more housing units per acre (known as "density bonuses") to encourage the construction of affordable homes. This bill would eliminate those mandated densities in sensitive water supply areas.

In place of those mandated density requirements, the bill would establish new rules tying housing development directly to water availability and infrastructure capacity. Specifically, new housing density in these areas could not exceed what the local water supply can support, could not risk introducing pollution into drinking water sources, and could not exceed the capacity of existing public water or sewer systems to handle the additional demand.

This bill would primarily affect homebuilders, housing developers, and municipalities that sit near watershed lands or groundwater supplies — which is a significant portion of Rhode Island's geography. Developers who currently rely on state-mandated density bonuses to build more units in these areas would lose that option. At the same time, local water authorities and town officials would gain clearer authority to limit housing growth based on water system limitations.

The bill has been referred to the House Municipal Government & Housing Committee, where it is scheduled for a hearing. It sits at the intersection of affordable housing policy and environmental protection of drinking water, and would represent a shift in how Rhode Island balances those two priorities.