Permits Johnston to require 2 parking spaces for each studio, one-bedroom, or two-bedroom low- or moderate-income housing unit upon the determination that limited or no local public transportation or off-street parking is available near these units.

Plain-English Summary

This bill would give the town of Johnston, Rhode Island, a specific power related to affordable housing developments. Under current state law, there are rules about how many parking spaces developers must provide when building low- or moderate-income housing. This bill would allow Johnston to require developers to include two parking spaces per unit for studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom affordable housing units — but only under certain conditions.

The key condition is that Johnston would first have to determine that the area near the housing units has limited or no public transportation options and limited or no existing off-street parking nearby. In other words, the town can't simply require extra parking everywhere — it must make a specific finding that residents would genuinely need those additional spaces because they can't easily rely on buses or other transit, and there isn't other nearby parking available.

This bill primarily affects affordable housing developers looking to build in Johnston, as well as future residents of those developments. Developers may face higher construction costs if they are required to add more parking spaces. Residents, on the other hand, could benefit from having guaranteed parking available, especially in areas without good public transit access.

The bill is specifically limited to the town of Johnston and does not apply to any other Rhode Island communities. It has been introduced and referred to the House Committee on Municipal Government and Housing, where it will be reviewed before any further action is taken.