Update on anti-low and moderate housing resolutions
Many Rhode Island municipalities have introduced, and some have passed, a resolution opposing the latest state efforts to increase housing production. We’re tracking towns where the resolution is being heard in public committee.
On September 14th, NWRI organizer Mélodie Pimentel went to Warren where the Town Council heard from several residents spoke out against the resolution. Sadly, this resolution was passed. View the full language when you click on the images below.
Housing affordability is a statewide challenge, and no single town can solve it alone. But every town can contribute! Every community has a role to play in creating places where families, workers, seniors, and young people can afford to live.
CLICK TO VIEW THE RESOLUTION
Our neighbors deserve the opportunity to live in communities with strong services, access to jobs, and the people that make our neighborhoods thrive. Affordable homes need to be a part of that equation, not something communities can simply opt out of.
Opting out may spare a town from meeting a requirement, but it does nothing to spare our neighbors from the consequences of an inadequate supply of affordable homes. We cannot build our communities by continually making exceptions that hurt the people that make our towns run.
At the Town Council Meeting, Warren residents voiced opposition to the proposed ordinance by attending the meeting, sending emails, and testifying. They argued that it would worsen housing affordability in town.
Notably, one resident highlighted the urgency of keeping locals from being priced out, sharing that her rent increased by over $5,000 in a single year.
“The facts in Warren speak for themselves: according to the most recent Housing Works Report, an annual household income of $174,943 is needed to afford a median priced home in our town; and an income of $107,680 is needed to afford the rent for an average 2- bedroom apartment. Lower and middle income folks are effectively precluded from both owning and renting here.” - John Mensinger, Warren Resident
“Since I’ve moved to Warren in 2022, my rent has gone up $497 a month. When I sign my new lease, that will be more than $5,000 a year. I’m a single professional, and I’d like to stay in Warren, I like it here, but every year my rent is going up and there doesn’t seem to be any relief at all. . . I’m not even someone who is in low income housing, but I can’t keep up. It’s getting really hard, and I’m not sure what’s going to happen to me.” – Colleen Donnovan, Warren Resident
“48% of renters (in Warren) pay more than 40% of their income on their home. So clearly, in this town, for people living here, there aren’t enough units to give people the relief they need.. .This is a problem that we share, and I don’t believe this resolution gets us to solving this problem” - Representative June Speakman
Colleen Testifying against the Warren Resolution. Watch the full Warren Town Council Meeting here.
We cannot build more affordable communities by continually making exceptions. If you would like help creating testimony or an op-ed against resolutions like this one, please get in touch, and help spread the word to your network!
