CCA asks General Assembly to make affordable housing go away

An update on activity at the General Assembly

By Will Collette

The Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA) has long crusaded against affordable housing development in Charlestown. Town Council President Tom Gentz and Planning Commissar Ruth Platner have taken the lead in fighting the deadly threat of housing that might shelter low and moderate income residents, especially those who might have children who would be sent to Chariho schools.

After losing their battle for the Platner-Gentz Affordable Housing Deconstruction Act, which would have dismantled the state’s affordable housing law, the CCA, through Gentz and Platner, turned to less radical approaches to changing state policy.

First, the CCA activated the alarm again that there might be new state legislation to replace H-5554 and S-533, House and Senate bills that would have substantially liberalized the rules for developers to build on otherwise unbuildable land. Both of the 2011 bills died in committee. But the CCA is convinced they will come back again and launched a full defensive mobilization.

Second, the CCA wants the state to launch a study of its affordable housing program, confident that state lawmakers will appreciate CCA’s position that affordable housing construction is unnecessary except in "urban growth areas" (where there already is a high level of compliance with state affordable housing goals). They directed the town’s General Assembly delegation to introduce legislation to create a new legislative study commission.

Third, the CCA wants a one-year moratorium on issuing comprehensive permits, the kind some for-profit developers use to get new projects built by simply adding in a small percentage of affordable units. This is another chore the Town Council gave to Charlestown’s General Assembly delegation.

Taking the last item first, Rep. Donna Walsh and Larry Valencia duly introduced H-7401. Senators Dennis Algiere and Frank Maher introduced the Senate companion bill, S-2409.

Rep. Donna Walsh reported back to the Charlestown Town Council that there was no need for a new state study commission on affordable housing since there already is a standing joint committee that handles housing issues. She told the committee chair, Rep. Brian Patrick Kennedy, about Charlestown’s concerns and they were duly noted.

The Charlestown Town Council attempts to get neighboring towns to sign on to its anti-affordable housing legislative agenda did not go as planned. South Kingstown specifically rejected Charlestown's push for a one-year moratorium. 

Now, on one of the CCA’s most feared monsters under the bed, the return of the zombie development bills, H-5554 and S-533, here’s what I know so far.

These now-dead 2011 bills died in committee. They were bad bills with sponsors who did not seem especially motivated to work for their passage. The House sponsor, Rep. William San Bento (D-Pawtucket), was just recently featured in the Providence Journal (behind their paywall) as the legislator with the worst attendance record.

Rep. Donna Walsh asked him whether he intended to re-introduce the bill this year. He told her he was thinking about it. But apparently he didn’t think too hard because, as of the deadline to introduce legislation, he had not done so. Click here for the database that allows you to check on all state legislation.

The Senate sponsor of 2011’s S-533, Senator Michael McCaffrey (D-Warwick), appears to have also decided not to re-introduce the bill.

I searched the database for the Senate Housing and Municipal Government Committee and the House Municipal Government Committee to see if anybody reintroduced those bills. Nothing. There were no bills in either committee that resembled the much-dreaded S-533 or H-5554. It’s possible – though unlikely – that there’s a stealth bill in there somewhere. This would be a bill that was introduced as a “placeholder.” It’s possible, in theory, that the sponsor of the placeholder bill might try to insert the dreaded developer bill as a “substitute” bill late in the session. Possible, but unlikely.

"The Sky is Falling!" This concept would make for a great
entry in this year's Progressive Charlestown Peeps contest

Note to the CCA: time to re-read Chicken Little. 

Rep. San Bento did co-sponsor one bill of potential interest to Charlestown’s anti-affordable housing forces. He co-sponsored H-7667, which would allow cities and towns to count year-round trailer homes as part of their affordable housing stock. 

Finally, Rep. Donald Lally introduced and was the sole sponsor of H-7625, which would allow cities and towns to count non-subsidized rental units as affordable housing if they are priced as such. It’s usually not a good sign when a bill like this has no co-sponsors.