The bill amends Section 45-24-31 of the General Laws in Chapter 45-24, which pertains to "Zoning Ordinances," and is set to take effect on January 1, 2024. It introduces and updates definitions for a wide array of terms relevant to zoning, such as "Accessory dwelling unit (ADU)," "Building height," "Cluster," "Community residence," "Daycare center," "Family daycare home," and many others. These definitions are intended to standardize the language across local ordinances that fall under this chapter. The bill also specifies the criteria for measuring building height and introduces the concept of a "Cluster" for site planning. It further defines "Community residence" to include various residential facilities and distinguishes between types of daycare services.

The bill makes a significant change to the definition of "household" by deleting the minimum number of unrelated persons living together, which was previously three, and inserting a new provision that allows local ordinances to set a maximum number of unrelated persons that cannot be less than one person per bedroom. This change aims to regulate the composition of households in local zoning ordinances. Additionally, the bill defines a range of other zoning-related terms such as "special use," "variance," "waters," "wetland," and "zoning use district," to ensure clarity and consistency in legal and regulatory contexts. The act is to be effective immediately upon passage, and no other insertions or deletions are indicated in the provided text, suggesting that the rest of the definitions are new or unchanged from existing law.

Statutes affected:
7272: 45-24-31