Land Use 2025 - RhodeMap RI

– needs to be upgraded, the advantages of convenient location, established infrastructure,and proximity to community amenities are strong incentives to do so. Public water andsewer allow for more density, and multiple units on a single lot may be a significantprivate or public investment opportunity.However, in spite of these infill opportunities there will remain pressure to develop ourrural landscape. The growth centers concept offers an opportunity to support morecompact growth within designated rural centers that often lack the infrastructure tosustain the type of density found within the urban services boundary. There are oftenunique environmental constraints that must be fully assessed and mitigated to support anysignificant increase in development density. Nevertheless, there remain opportunities totarget both existing and planned centers as the focal point of rural development, althoughit may require additional technical assistance by the State to bring this concept to fruition.A sampling of some of these potential centers and the issues that must be addressed arepresented in Figure 121-03(2).A New Legislative Framework for Affordable Housing ProductionThe 2004 amendments to the State’s Low and Moderate Income (LMI) Housing Act basea solution to the problem of affordable housing on a planning response that, in manyrespects, attempts to address the constraints on supply. Among the specific planningaspects of the legislation are requirements that:• Amendments to local comprehensive plans, where necessary, include anAffordable Housing Plan that identifies specific, quantified strategies to achievethe LMI Housing Act’s goal of having at least 10 percent of every community’shousing units subsidized and affordable to low- and moderate-income households.• The State Planning Council adopt a Strategic Housing Plan with guidelines forhigher density development, including inclusionary zoning and mixed-usedevelopment, as an element of the State Guide Plan.• A Geographic Information System (GIS) dataset of areas of the State suitable forhigher density development be developed.Communities have responded with plans that include strategies that will increase theallowable density of different types of housing. In many cases, affordable housing willbe accommodated in locally designated growth centers that are reflected on the FutureLand Use 2025 map. These plans and the land suitability analysis that is a component ofthe Map responds to many of the requirements of the legislation, and form the foundationfor the Strategic Housing Plan as a new element of the State Guide Plan. The StatePlanning Council is scheduled to adopt the Strategic Housing Plan and developmentguidelines in June 2006.Land Use 2025: Rhode Island State Land Use Policies and Plan (April 2006) 3-11