Narragansett discusses housing limit

Last Wednesday night the Narragansett Town Hall was packed to capacity with students, local residents and landlords as the town council continued the consideration of a housing ordinance, which would restrict homes to no more than four unrelated tenants.

No final decision was made. After hearing from a number of different perspectives, they decided the final decision would be made on Monday, March 21.

The ad-hoc committee, which the town council asked to examine the student housing issue, argued the benefits of the ordinance. A number of the speakers at the town hall, including Amanda Rode, the president of student senate, argued this ruling would not solve the problems of students drinking and disrupting neighborhoods.

“This is not just about any unrelated renter, it’s more so targeting the students who rent in Narragansett,” said Rode. “This is targeting a specific group. At the core, behavior is what could be improved to enhance everyday life of both residents and renters in Narragansett.”

Rode continued to say that changing the number of unrelated renters in a house will not change behavior.

“Education and engaging students is going to be key in creating the changes that you want, not limiting the number of students that can live together,” Rode said.

Ray Kagels, the founder and president of Narragansett 2100, which argued against the ordinance from the landlord perspective, agreed that there are better ways to deal with the problem, such as engaging with the students.

However, the ad-hoc group argued this isn’t about students, although they are the root cause of this ordinance.

“I keep hearing it’s not going to solve student drinking, some students are good, some students are bad – it’s not about students,” committee member Harry Schofield said. “The results of our findings, as summarized in my reports, are its density control. It’s packing more people in a neighborhood that were designed for families.”

Co-chair of the committee, Jeff Denther, said there are 35 communities in Rhode Island that limit the number of unrelated people in a home. Providence instituted a housing ordinance last year, which specifically restricts the number of students to no more than three in a house. The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island is suing Providence, declaring the ordinance as unconstitutional.

However, the major difference is that the proposed housing ordinance in Narragansett does not specify the number of students that can live in a household, but the number of unrelated tenants. Zoning cannot regulate who owns property, but can regulate the use of property.  

“No more than four is a good compromise all around,” Schofield said. “We don’t hold URI students accountable for this. It’s Narragansett’s problem. We are not down on students.”

Although members of the ad-hoc committee claim the ordinance is not about students or behavior of students, Rode and Kagels argued this would affect students most.

“We can’t have two different sets of citizens in this town,” Kagels said. “We don’t condone bad behavior by our tenants or our landlords.”