Middletown planning board to hold special public hearing on zoning and subdivision changes required by new state housing laws

Planning staff presented draft amendments to multiple sections of the Middletown zoning ordinance and subdivision and land‑development regulations required by recent Rhode Island legislation (bills H5794, H5795, H5801). The Planning Board agreed to schedule a special public hearing to take public comment and then forward recommendations to the Town Council.

Staff said some of the edits are required by state law and others relocate or clarify existing text. Notable changes discussed included: making the pre‑application meeting optional (per state direction), giving the town discretion to adopt density limits for adaptive reuse of commercial buildings (staff suggested one possible metric of one unit per 3,000 square feet of land as a discussion starting point), and permitting the use of wetland buffer area in density calculations (staff clarified that including the buffer in the formula does not authorize development of the buffer itself). Board members also highlighted that the statutory change eliminates a zoning‑relief hardship criterion that states the hardship must not be the result of the applicant’s prior action, and asked staff to point to the statutory language for clarity.

The board then ran through the draft pages section by section. Where the state statute allows local discretion, members discussed alternatives — for example, how to set a density limit for adaptive reuse and whether to allow limited expansions of existing commercial envelopes. Several board members noted that some changes aim to streamline developer steps and reduce procedural burdens; other members observed the potential tradeoffs, such as longer timelines if adaptive reuse projects require additional approvals.

At the end of the review, staff said state law requires the board to hold a public hearing before approving any changes and forwarding them to the council. The board directed staff to schedule a special public hearing (to be advertised per statute) and to include the zoning‑ordinance amendments that are part of the package on that hearing agenda. Staff said they would poll the board to find a special date and conduct the required advertising; several members agreed.

Why it matters: The proposed amendments implement state legislative changes intended to encourage housing production statewide; they will change local procedural steps and provide areas of local discretion affecting density, adaptive reuse, and relief standards.

Next steps: Staff will poll the planning board to set a special public hearing date, publish the required legal notices for that hearing and include the zoning amendments for review. After the hearing the board may vote to approve amendments and forward them to the Town Council.

Ending note: The board asked staff to circulate the amended pages and to highlight areas where local choices remain (adaptive reuse density, affordability thresholds, and buffer/density calculations) before the public hearing.