Allows the town of Johnston to determine its density bonuses based upon its underlying zoning.

Plain-English Summary

This bill would give the town of Johnston, Rhode Island special authority to set its own rules about "density bonuses" — a tool that allows developers to build more housing units on a piece of land than would normally be permitted. Currently, state law dictates how these density bonuses are calculated, but this bill would allow Johnston to instead base those calculations on its own local zoning rules and standards.

In practical terms, density bonuses are typically offered to developers as an incentive to include affordable housing units in their projects. In exchange for including a certain number of affordable homes, a developer is allowed to build more total units than the zoning would otherwise allow. This bill would let Johnston determine for itself how generous or restrictive those bonuses are, based on what its existing zoning already permits in different areas of town.

This bill primarily affects the town of Johnston, its local government, housing developers, and residents who may be impacted by future housing development. By giving Johnston more local control, the town could potentially tailor housing development incentives to fit its specific neighborhoods and land-use plans. However, it also means Johnston would have more flexibility to set terms that could result in different outcomes — either more or less affordable housing — than the state's standard formula might produce.

The bill has been introduced and referred to the Senate Housing and Municipal Government committee, where it will be reviewed before any further action is taken.