Zoning ordinance recodification
Summary
The board is pushing to simplify the town's tangled zoning ordinance — six different terms for coverage alone. It wants a scoping document with costs and timeline before asking the Town Council to fund outside help.
At a glance
- Total mentions
- 6
- Last 30 days
- 0
Last discussed Jul 21, 2026.
Impact analysis
A full recodification would require outside professional help, so it would cost the town money — the scoping document will estimate how much.
Anyone who builds, renovates, or appeals a zoning decision benefits from a simpler, clearer ordinance.
Mentions & discussions (6)
Planning Board - Jul 21, 2026
The board wants to rewrite Narragansett's hard-to-read zoning code, but there's no money in the budget and staff is busy with the comprehensive plan. A memo to the Town Council about scope and funding comes back in August.
Narragansett Town Council - Jul 8, 2026
The 1969 Narragansett Pier redevelopment plan is being folded into the zoning ordinance with modernized language. Council direction: keep council approval authority, clarify allowed uses to foster a vibrant year-round town center, update parking standards, and fix the vague landscaping rule — all without adding hurdles for existing businesses.
Planning Board - Jun 16, 2026
Staff are researching how other Rhode Island towns have overhauled their zoning ordinances, with a consultant scope proposal possibly coming. It's an early but significant modernization effort.
Planning Board - May 19, 2026
The board is pushing to simplify the town's tangled zoning ordinance — six different terms for coverage alone. It wants a scoping document with costs and timeline before asking the Town Council to fund outside help.
Zoning Board - Jan 22, 2026
The town council gave first reading to rolling back the 2024 15% dimensional changes, a student-occupancy rule moving from three to five students, and pending updates for 2025 state laws — with open questions about whether home rule can resist state preemption.
Planning Board - Jan 21, 2026
Board members floated adding a town-funded, third-party recodification of the zoning ordinance — untouched since the mid-1990s — as a goal for next year, running it in parallel with the comprehensive plan update.
Related development
Comprehensive Plan Update
The plan will guide zoning, infrastructure, housing, and services for the next decade — public input now directly shapes those priorities.
Narragansett Pier Urban Redevelopment Plan integration into Zoning Ordinance
Could clarify what's allowed in the Pier area, update outdated parking and landscaping rules, and shape a more vibrant year-round town center — with existing uses grandfathered in.
We'll email you when it's on an upcoming agenda and when it's voted on, at most once a day.
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