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Council delays South Road School RFP, asks staff to seek state input on infrastructure funding
Summary
Council voted to table the RFP for South Road School to July 14 to allow staff to meet with the state housing agency and return with updated information on possible infrastructure subsidies and to allow the Affordable Housing Collaborative and council more time to review.
The South Kingstown Town Council on June 16 voted to table consideration of a draft request for proposals (RFP) for the South Road School redevelopment until its July meeting to allow more review and to incorporate information from an upcoming meeting with the state housing agency.
Town planning staff presented a draft RFP that envisions a primarily single‑family, for‑sale development with a minimum 25% affordable component and design standards intended to integrate the site with the surrounding neighborhood. Staff said the RFP seeks to balance prescriptive design standards to secure a high‑quality outcome while leaving flexibility to attract a range of respondents, including for‑profit developers and nonprofit housing organizations.
Several council members and members of the public raised concerns that the draft may favor market‑rate developers, that the 25% minimum affordable requirement could deter nonprofit respondents, and that the RFP leaves unresolved questions about who would pay for demolition, environmental remediation and infrastructure (sewer, roads, curbs). Town Manager Jim Manny told the council he had scheduled a June 24 meeting with the state housing secretary and staff to walk the sites and explore potential state infrastructure funding.
Council members asked staff to send the draft RFP to the Affordable Housing Collaborative for review and to provide a rubric and scoring process for evaluating proposals. Several council members said they prefer casting a “wide net” to learn what proposals the market will produce, while others urged stronger direction to secure deeper affordability.
To allow the council to consider state feedback and for staff to circulate the draft to the Affordable Housing Collaborative, the council voted to continue the item to the council’s first July meeting on July 14.
Staff estimated the site could support roughly 40–60 units depending on density and noted that developers indicated a multi‑year timeline for delivery due to financing constraints.
