The Rhode Island General Assembly recently passed a package of bills intended to create more affordable housing, including Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). The Little Compton Planning Board reviewed them for consistency with our Comprehensive Plan, and determined that allowing more ADUs could be in contrast to two of the Comprehensive Plan’s objectives, including “the protection of water quality (NR1)” and “the maintenance and protection of rural character, visual aesthetics and heritage of the Town (HC1)”.

Since the legislation is intended to increase access to affordable housing, it’s unclear why the planning board didn’t cite the fact that eliminating ADUs would be contrary to two other goals in the Comprehensive Plan to “meet the needs for town’s residents for attainable housing (H1)” and “reach the state’s minimum 10 percent low and moderate income housing requirement (H2).”

Rather than comply with the new legislation, the planning board proposed eliminating existing provisions for ADUs. The town council voted five-to-one to eliminate the Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) provisions from its zoning ordinance (Councilman Gary Mataronas was the lone nay vote).

Little Compton is one of the state’s most expensive towns. The median home price was $875,000 in 2022 and is trending upward for 2023. We have the lowest percentage of affordable housing stock at 0.56 percent. We have a large senior population but offer zero units of affordable housing dedicated to seniors. We have an excellent school central to our community but a shrinking student population because young families can’t afford housing. Many of our town workers, police and firemen/women, teachers, and tradespeople can’t afford to live here.

Many towns in our state face a similar housing crisis, with home prices and rents out of reach. But with our town’s exclusionary two-acre minimum zoning restriction, purchasing land to create affordable single-family housing is nearly impossible. ADUs provide an alternative by increasing the supply of more affordable and diverse types of housing. ADUs serve multiple purposes that might change over time as homeowners age. Some benefits include:

• Provide rental income to offset property taxes, maintenance, and home repair costs;
• Provide housing for caregivers, allowing older homeowners to remain in their home;
• Enable homeowners to downsize, rent out their main house, or have family move in;
• Increase security, home care, and companionship for homeowners;
• Encourage multigenerational living, allowing grandparents to maintain autonomy while living close to family;
• Help single parents, young homebuyers, and renters seeking a range of homes, prices, and rents;
• Provide rental housing for young families who’d bring children into the school system;
• Increase local workforce housing for farmers, fishermen, and town employees;
• And promote compact growth, reducing the loss of farmland and natural resources.
I ask the Little Compton Town Council to reconsider and reverse its decision. I encourage the citizens of Little Compton to give this issue your attention. We share a responsibility to promote policies that benefit our whole community: Young and old, rich and poor, and everyone in between.

Victoria Talbot

Little Compton

Talbot is chairwoman of the Housing Affordability Working Group at the United Congregational Church of Little Compton.