The text
Footnotes:
--- (5) --- Editor's note— An ordinance adopted Nov. 5, 2012, deleted the former Art. III, §§ 14-201—14-213, and enacted a new Art. III as set out herein. The former Art. III pertained to similar subject matter and derived from an ordinance adopted Nov. 5, 2001, §§ 1—13.
Sec. 14-201. - Purpose.#
The purpose of growth management is to equitably allocate a limited number of new residential building permits over time, so as to minimize the burden on existing facilities and resources, whose adequacy is essential to the public health, safety and welfare, and in a manner which is consistent with the town comprehensive plan. It is the intent of this article to allow controlled growth in relation to the existing and future capacity of town facilities and the Exeter-West Greenwich School District (hereafter the "school district").
(Ord. of 11-5-12)
Sec. 14-202. - Findings.#
The town council, planning board, town staff and consultants have conducted a study to develop a growth management program as called for in the comprehensive plan. The study is entitled "Town of Exeter, Rhode Island, Growth Management Program," and was adopted by the town council on November 5, 2001. The town council finds that this study, together with the footnotes and sources, establishes the basis for the town's growth management program, and are all incorporated herein by reference. In addition, in 2012 the Exeter Town Council commissioned a second study entitled "Growth Management Follow-Up Report" and is adopted by reference herein.
(Ord. of 11-5-12)
Sec. 14-203. - Issuance of residential building permits.#
Issuance of building permits authorizing creation of one or more dwelling units, as defined by the town zoning ordinance, through new construction or change of use shall be allowed only under the procedures and requirements set forth herein.
A permit is equivalent to a dwelling unit. Applicants for such residential building permits shall be authorized to proceed in the manner specified herein, and in accordance with the priority assigned to them. The total number of dwelling units authorized to begin construction in any quarter shall not exceed the calculated quota as established in this article.
(Ord. of 11-5-12)
Sec. 14-204. - Calculated quota.#
There shall be a finite number of residential building permits for each quarter of each year. A quarter is defined as a three-month period that begins on the first day of January, April, July and October. The number of residential permits to be issued shall be limited in accordance with the following formula: Total permits per quarter equals the currently available seats within the school district plus any increase of seats that the school district may provide for through new construction of school facilities over the next ten years, commencing with January 1, 2013, divided by 0.6 divided by 40 quarters, and multiplied by the percentage of Exeter's current enrollment in the EWG system.
(Ord. of 11-5-12)
Sec. 14-205. - Quota established.#
It has been determined by the town council, based upon studies conducted pursuant to the comprehensive plan and studies cited in section 14-202, along with data supplied by the school district, the town's present capacity for additional dwelling units is based on the following: 2010/2011 total capacity 2,310
Plus recaptured seats—interim plan 180
Total 2,490
2010/2011 enrollment 1,835
Existing excess capacity 655
Divided by (pupil per dwelling unit ratio here) .6
(Equals number of system-wide permits in ten-year period 1091
Multiplied by the Exeter's percentage of enrollment 44.93%
Equals number of Exeter permits in ten-year period 490
Number of permits per year 49
Number of permits per quarter 12, 12, 13, 12
(Ord. of 11-5-12)
Sec. 14-206. - Subsequent quotas.#
Following the method established in section 14-205, the calculation of the formula for all subsequent quarters shall be performed by the building official and shall be submitted to the town council, the planning board and posted in the office of the town clerk not less than 30 days prior to the commencement of the quarter for which the quota is to be applied. To assist the building official in his/her calculation, the building official shall request, in writing, that the superintendent of schools supply him/her with the number of available seats in the school district based on the current capacity less the actual enrollment as of October 1 of the current school calendar year, and the increase in seat capacity, projected from January 1, 2002, to December 31, 2012, based upon any adopted plan of the school district. The building official shall monitor the school district's overall capacity by checking with the superintendent of schools every first day of October of every year to determine the system capacity and enrollment.
(Ord. of 11-5-12)
Sec. 14-207. - Effective date.#
For the purposes of this article, the effective date shall be January 1, 2013. Any application for a building permit creating one or more additional dwelling units submitted after the effective date of this article shall be subject to the review procedures set forth herein. Permit applications submitted before the effective date of this article shall not be subject to any of the quota limitations of this article. This article shall supercede any and all ordinances inconsistent herewith.
(Ord. of 11-5-12)
Sec. 14-208. - Exemptions from the quota.#
The following types of dwellings shall not be subject to the provisions of this article with regard to the calculated quota. These dwellings have been determined to have no or minimal impact upon the town's capacity or provide positive benefits to the town which are consistent with the comprehensive community plan. The building official shall accept applications for construction of the dwellings listed below and shall act upon them without regard to the quotas, priority determination and procedures as set forth in this article. All such permits issued shall be considered to be issued in addition to the calculated quota provisions of this article. Complete applications for construction of dwelling units so authorized shall be granted permits within the time limits prescribed in the state building code, regardless of the availability of permits within the quota. (1)
Affordable housing. Any housing units required to be constructed under article IX of the Exeter Zoning Ordinance.
(2)
Vested rights. An application to construct a dwelling is not subject to this section if allowed pursuant to vested rights provisions of the zoning ordinance.
(3)
Elderly housing. Dwellings which would contribute to meeting the year-round housing needs of elderly and disabled citizens through enforceable restrictions limiting occupancy to households whose members are 62 years of age or older.
(4)
Retired adult communities. Planned developments for retired citizens, with amenities, established through publicly enforceable restrictions limiting occupancy to residents whose members are 55 years of age or older.
(5)
Community residence. Any community residence as defined by R.I.G.L. § 45-24-31.
(Ord. of 11-5-12)
Sec. 14-209. - Priority issuance.#
Building permits shall be issued by the building official up to the maximum number permitted by the applicable calculated quota, in the order of priority assigned below. In the event of a tie, priority shall go to the application with the earlier date and time of the submission of a complete application. (1)
The first priority shall be given to applications for construction of low and moderate income housing. "Low and moderate income housing" is that housing developed, approved and built in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 54 of Title 45 of the R.I. General laws and the Exeter Code of Ordinances, Section 9.0 [Appendix A, Article IX].
(2)
The second priority shall be given to applications for construction of a new single-family detached dwelling provided that:
a.
The applicant owned the lot to be built before the effective date of this article; or
b.
The lot to be built upon was subdivided from a larger parcel before the effective date of this article.
This priority level shall not apply:
a.
If the applicant has previously received a permit for a new single-family detached dwelling in the town; or
b.
The lot to be built upon was under common ownership with a lot or parcel that has previously received a building permit for a new single-family detached dwelling in the town within two years prior to the date of application.
(3)
The third priority shall be given to applicants whose application for construction of a dwelling has been denied for four consecutive quarters because of the provisions of this article.
(4)
The remainder of the quota shall be issued to any other applications in the order of complete applications received.
(Ord. of 11-5-12)
Sec. 14-210. - Procedure for issuance of building permits.#
(a)
Applications for building permits for construction of one or more dwelling units shall be submitted to the building official, who shall adhere to the following procedure in reviewing and issuing permits:
(1)
Completeness. The building official shall, upon receipt of an application submitted, examine the application, plans and all materials for completeness, which shall include all plans and materials required for a building permit under the applicable provisions of the zoning ordinance and the state building code. If said application, plans and materials are complete, the building official shall stamp it indicating the date and time of official receipt by the town.
(2)
Incomplete applications. If the application is incomplete and does not contain all plans and materials as required by the zoning ordinance and the state building code, the application, plans and materials shall be returned to the applicant, within 15 days, who will be informed by the building official what is missing from the submission in order to qualify as a complete application.
(b)
The building official shall not issue permits for any dwelling units in excess of the quota unless such units are exempt, as provided in section 14-208. The building official shall keep track of all permits issued plus complete applications submitted during the most recent quarter, beginning with the effective date of this article. If, within any quarter, the number exceeds the quota, additional building permits shall no longer be issued. Applications for additional permits shall be accumulated for action at the beginning of the next quarter, and shall be prioritized and issued under the ensuing quarter.
(c)
At the beginning of the next quarter, the building official shall add the total number of complete applications on file to the total number of permits issued during the previous three quarters. In the event that the resulting sum (current quarter applications plus the previous three quarters' accumulation) is fewer than the annual quota as defined herein, accumulated permits shall be issued up to the quarterly quota limit and new applications may be processed to such limit. In the event that the resulting sum exceeds the annual quota, the accumulated permits shall not be issued and no further permits shall be issued for that quarter.
(d)
The accumulation of applications may continue from one quarter to the next and permits issued within the limitations described in subsection (c) above. Under no circumstances shall the number of building permits, other than those exempt dwellings, exceed the annual quota.
(e)
In the event that the number of building permits issued in any one year does not reach the annual quota, there shall be no carryover of permits to the following year.
(Ord. of 11-5-12)
Sec. 14-211. - Limitation on permits issued.#
In order to assure that permits for residential building construction are equitably distributed among all qualified applicants, no more than five building permits for dwelling units shall be granted to either any single applicant (including any related entity as defined below), or to any owner (including any related entity) of any single subdivision or land development project, within any quarter if doing so would result in denial of a permit for any other applicant.
Related entity means, with respect to a specific person, group of people, or corporation ("party"): (1)
Such party's spouse or parents, children, grandparents, grandchildren or siblings (blood or adopted);
(2)
A trustee of a trust for the benefit of such party, or for the benefit of any person identified in subsection (1) above;
(3)
A corporation, partnership, firm, business or legal entity of which 15 percent or more of the voting interest is owned by such party, or any person identified in either subsections (1) or (2) above; or
(4)
A person who is an officer, director, trustee, employee or partner of any legal entity referred to in subsections (2) or (3) above.
(Ord. of 11-5-12)
Sec. 14-212. - Appeals.#
Any decision by the building official to carry out the purposes of this article may be taken by an aggrieved party to the zoning board of review. The appeal shall be taken within 20 days following an action by the building official to enforce the provisions of this article and shall specify the grounds for such appeal. The building official shall forthwith transmit to the zoning board of review all the papers constituting the record upon which the action appealed from was taken. Notice of the appeal shall also be transmitted to the planning board. The procedure for any appeal including a public hearing shall be in accordance with section 1.7 of the zoning ordinance.
(Ord. of 11-5-12)
Sec. 14-213. - Expiration date.#
This article shall expire on December 31, 2022, and shall be reviewed for applicability by the planning board no later than December 31, 2017.
(Ord. of 11-5-12)