The Borderlands Project Web Log

Learning More About Exeter, RI's New Mixed Use Ordinance

David Schweid

On August 7, 2006 the Exeter Town Council approved an ordinance to amend the zoning regulations to allow, by special use permit, residential development on the second and third floors above commercial structures in the B (business) and LB/R (light business/residential) zones.

This is a concept that has been talked about in Exeter for some time. It was discussed in the early 1990’s as part of the original work on the Comprehensive Plan for Exeter. It was formally adopted in 2005 as one of the five strategies proposed in the approved Affordable Housing Plan (now Appendix C of the Exeter Comprehensive Plan). In the Affordable Housing Plan, this strategy is forecasted to produce 40 units of low or moderate income housing over a period of twenty years. Some of the advantages of this type of development are:

• Encourages economic growth
• Facilitates village-style, pedestrian friendly development
• Promotes compact growth with a small footprint, minimizing sprawl
• Promotes the “live-work” concept, allowing people to live above their workplace
• Produces low and moderate income housing (the ordinance requires 20% of all units be deed restricted for persons of low or moderate income)

There is good reason to believe this type of development will be attractive to private developers. First, there is very little multi-family development in Exeter, so a healthy demand exists. Second, this type of development is generally very cost effective as it builds on and shares the infrastructure already in place for the commercial development; septic, well, storm water management system, parking, driveways, and even foundation and utility connections, may already be in place, thus greatly reducing the construction costs.

The ordinance has built-in controls designed to insure that the regulation is used to create the type of development intended. It has a maximum density of one unit per acre, it severely limits ground floor construction, and requires that residential development does not exceed the square footage of commercial development. Finally, there is a requirement that any such development contain a minimum of 20% low and/or moderate income units.

Partly because the commercial zones in Exeter are limited to Route 2 and Route 3, there was little local opposition to this proposal. The process moved fairly smoothly, if not quickly, from concept to ordinance. The only significant controversy came from an unexpected quarter, RI Housing. RI Housing had concerns about the economic viability of the density, and even went so far as to suggest that this ordinance might not be considered a “local subsidy”. Without that designation, the LMI units produced under this ordinance would not count toward Exeter’s required 10% quota. On the face of it, this seemed extraordinary, since RI Housing had already approved this strategy in the Town’s Affordable Housing Plan. Ultimately, this has been resolved with the understanding that this ordinance is a density bonus and that if it creates qualifying affordable housing, that housing will be counted.

RI Housing also pointed out technical concerns with the ordinance, including the need to establish a process for monitoring the continued affordability of the LMI units over time. This concern and other similar technical issues, will be addressed in our inclusionary zoning ordinance, yet to be written. Exeter,like seven other South County towns, is looking to a regional Targeted Assistance Grant (TAG) from RI Housing to help develop an inclusionay zoning ordinance. In retrospect, it would certainly be preferable to develop a comprehensive inclusionary zoning ordinance that would address subdivisions, age-restricted housing, and mixed use at one fell swoop. Due to the fact that there is an opportunity to create a mixed use development now, it was not possible to wait. After all, it is true what they say, timing is everything.