2022 -- H 7943

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LC005359

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2022

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO TOWNS AND CITIES -- LOW AND MODERATE INCOME HOUSING

     Introduced By: Representatives Baginski, and Potter

     Date Introduced: March 07, 2022

     Referred To: House Municipal Government & Housing

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Chapter 45-53 of the General Laws entitled "Low and Moderate Income

Housing" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section:

     45-53-10. Repurposing of schools and other vacant and unused municipal buildings

for affordable housing program.

     (a) There is hereby established the repurposing of schools and other vacant and unused

municipal buildings for an affordable housing program (the “program”). The program shall be

administered by the Rhode Island housing and mortgage finance corporation established pursuant

to chapter 55 of title 42 (the “corporation”) as set forth herein.

     (b) The purpose of the program shall be to provide guidance and assistance in the

repurposing of vacant and unused school buildings and other vacant and unused municipal

buildings as identified and existing as of July 1 of each year, commencing October 1, 2022.

     (c) The department of elementary and secondary education (the “department”) shall,

commencing on October 1, 2022, on a biannual basis, provide to the corporation, the speaker of the

house, the president of the senate, and the secretary of commerce for housing, a list of all school

buildings which have been abandoned or are no longer being used by a school district, and which

buildings the school district and the council for the municipality wherein the school building is

located both, by an affirmative vote of a majority of both the governing body of the school board

and the municipality, have voted to be willing to offer the former school building to the program.

In the case of buildings being abandoned or no longer used by a charter school which owns the

school building in question, an affirmative vote of the governing body of the charter school and/or

mayoral academy shall be required. The department shall also include and identify in the list those

school buildings which the department anticipates will become abandoned or no longer used by a

school district within the next six (6) months following the issuance of the list. As to other vacant

and unused municipal buildings, the league of cities and towns shall collect data and, commencing

October 1, 2022, and on a semi-annual basis thereafter, provide to the corporation, the speaker of

the house, the president of the senate, and the secretary of commerce for housing, a list of all vacant

and unused municipal buildings within the municipality.

     (d)(1) The Rhode Island housing resources commission and the Rhode Island division of

statewide planning shall collaborate to investigate the feasibility of converting a building identified

under this section into affordable housing.

     (2) The commission and the division shall conduct an investigation, in conjunction with

the department of environmental management, the department of health, a fire marshal, the local

building inspector, and the local zoning officer, into its feasibility. This investigation shall be

completed within one hundred and twenty (120) days after being notified by the corporation of the

availability of a vacant building being offered pursuant to this section. The commission and the

division shall issue a joint report to the corporation on the feasibility of using any such building

and shall indicate in the report a recommendation as to whether the building should or should not

be repurposed as affordable housing, and the anticipated costs of renovating the building into

affordable housing.

     (3) The corporation shall review the report and make a final determination as to the

suitability of repurposing the building as affordable housing within thirty (30) days of receipt of

the report.

     (4) Once a building is determined by the corporation to be appropriate for repurposing as

affordable housing, the corporation shall actively identify and invite prospective developers to

submit an application to the program, with the goal of repurposing the building into affordable

housing. Provided, the corporation shall promulgate in its regulations a competitive bid process

which is fair, transparent, and open to any party qualified to repurpose the school building into

affordable housing.

     (e) The corporation shall maintain on its website a separate site for the repurposing of

buildings for the affordable housing program. This site shall contain a listing of all buildings which

the corporation determines, after reviewing the joint report from the commission and the division,

to be suitable for repurposing as affordable housing. In so doing, the corporation shall include a

general statement of the condition of the property, an estimate of the types of renovations, if any,

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which must be performed to the property, and an estimate of the costs thereof. Provided, it shall be

made clear on the website that these are estimates to repurpose used buildings, and that neither the

state, the corporation, the division, the commission, or any instrumentality of the state or of a

municipality or school district shall be liable for any estimates which are incorrect. The website

shall also provide contact information for a person regarding the former building whom a party

who is interested in repurposing the former building may contact. The joint report from the

commission and the division shall also be provided on the corporation's website.

     (f) The corporation shall seek to assist and facilitate persons and developers who want to

repurpose former buildings as affordable housing. This assistance may include, but need not be

limited to, technical advice, low-interest loans, and assistance in obtaining grants, all to assist in

the repurposing of the former municipal or school building.

     (g) The corporation shall promulgate rules and regulations for the implementation and

enforcement of this section and program.

     (h) Provided, as to any vacant and unused school or municipal building which a

municipality does not wish to offer to the program:

     (1) In the case of a municipality which has not met its minimum requirements for low or

moderate income housing as defined in § 45-53-3, the sale of the building shall be to restricted and

required to be a developer of low and moderate income housing, until the municipality reaches its

minimum requirements; and

     (2) In the case of a municipality which has met its minimum requirements for low or

moderate income housing as defined in § 45-53-3, the sale to a developer of low and moderate

income housing is not required but is encouraged by the state. Rhode Island housing corporation

shall make efforts to offer incentives to municipalities to make the sale to a developer of low and

moderate income housing.

     (i) As to any vacant and unused school or municipal building owned by the state, the state

shall offer a right of first refusal to the municipality to purchase the building; provided the building

is purchased and used by the municipality for low or moderate income housing.

     (j) As used herein, the term "affordable housing" means housing which meets the definition

for low or moderate income housing in § 45-53-3

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO TOWNS AND CITIES -- LOW AND MODERATE INCOME HOUSING

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     This act would provide for the establishment of the repurposing of vacant and unused

school and other municipal buildings for affordable housing program, within the Rhode Island

housing corporation.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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