South Kingstown council sends proposed rental registry to planning board to gather data for homestead exemption

The South Kingstown Town Council on June 16 voted to send a proposed zoning amendment establishing a rental registration to the planning board for an advisory opinion.

The referral, introduced by a town staff member, would add a rental-dwelling registration to the town’s zoning ordinance and apply to “any and all rentals” in town rather than only short-term rentals. Town staff said the registry is intended to collect data on how many housing units are rented versus owner-occupied so the council can calculate eligibility and impacts if it later adopts a homestead exemption allowed by the General Assembly.

Town staff advised that a standalone rental ordinance had been challenged in Rhode Island superior court and that courts have suggested municipalities should regulate rentals through the zoning ordinance. The staff presentation cited earlier cases in Narragansett and Newport, and said the approach of placing registration in the zoning ordinance aligns with recent local practice.

Council members asked practical questions about timing, implementation and who would register properties. A town staff member read the registration language that would require the record owner to register a rental dwelling unit with the zoning official before leasing it.

Council members also emphasized that the registration is intended to provide the demographic and tax-base data needed before the town makes any decision on the size or structure of a homestead exemption. Staff repeatedly said the referral is only the first procedural step; any exemption or tax-rate changes would require later public hearings and specific calculations based on the rental data.

The council approved the referral by voice vote. The planning board will provide an advisory opinion and the council said it will hold order-of-notice and public hearings before any ordinance is adopted.

Council members and staff estimated the planning board could consider the matter as soon as late June or, more likely, in July; if the planning board needs additional information the delay would likely be two weeks.

The referral does not itself create a registration requirement or any tax change; it begins the formal zoning-amendment process the council must follow to receive a legally required advisory opinion and to later consider ordinance text at a public hearing.