<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4IlOab_0vkgzFaM00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4IlOab_0vkgzFaM00" width="1443" height="557" ><figcaption>Wakefield Elementary School is one of three properties being surveyed to convert into affordable housing. PHOTO CREDIT: Nora Kelley | Staff Photographer</figcaption></figure>In order to mitigate housing struggles, the South Kingstown Town Council began community outreach about an affordable housing initiative that plans to renovate three properties on Aug. 22.The three sites include South Road School, Wakefield Elementary School and the Oliver Watson House, according to the South Kingstown Council website .A resolution to hire a firm has since passed and a study was conducted regarding what the town could do to transform the sites into affordable housing units, Town Manager Jim Manni said at a community input session that same day. The median single-family home in South Kingstown costs roughly $579,000, which makes the income to afford that home $170,000 per household, according to 2023 data from HousingWorks RI . The town’s income for a household of three people is $95,000, and has led to a strong decrease in the amount of families able to afford homes.“I think people have come to the realization that there is a lack of true affordable housing because units are so expensive,” Deputy Town Manager Luke Murray said. “By providing some of these options, the intent is, overall, to start rebuilding the community.” South Kingstown stands at around 5% attainable housing, which is roughly 500 housing units shy of the 10% state threshold, Manni said. This percentage is still within the top third of Rhode Island towns. The firm chosen was Union Studios, an architecture and community design practice based in Providence, Rhode Island, Lake said. Union Studios first became interested in the project after coming across a request for proposal put out by the town .“It’s telling of the overarching problem because some of the sites that are available are schools, you just don’t have as many school children as you did at one point in time.” Jeremey Lake, the Union Studios principal said. As of Aug. 22, a total of three community input sessions — one for each renovation site — have been held, Murray said. Additionally, a boards and commissions housing initiative workshop was held on Friday.“I think they’ve been generally good conversations,” Lake said. “There has been this sort of general understanding that this is an important issue for the town to be tackling.”Throughout the meetings, a few concerns were expressed by the community, especially concerns surrounding traffic, Lake said.Traffic engineers will be brought in to South Kingstown to run a traffic impact report in the future, according to Lake. This report will help determine how construction will impact traffic in order to implement possible solutions.University of Rhode Island commuters will not be heavily impacted by these measures since the process does not involve a drastic number of housing units, Lake said. “Even if all three sites moved forward, they probably wouldn’t all be done at the exact same time,” Lake said. “I think it would be a very incremental, slow change.” Additionally, members of the community voiced concerns surrounding the parks, fearing that these new units will impact access, Lake said.It’s important to keep in mind the fact that this initiative is not just about architecture or land use, but also about crafting a plan that can work with constraints whilst meeting the needs of the community, said Eric Busch, the principle of Peregrine Real Estate advisory services and development.“We know people use this place, so we want to make sure those things are still viable when all is said and done here,” Busch said. Some people have expressed interest about what the housing will be used for, according to Lake. These concerns specifically stem from the question of whether URI students will be renting out the homes.This is unlikely, Murray said. “There is a good prospect that some, possibly all of these units would have a deed restriction,” Murray said. “What that would do is restrict the availability of students to be able to use that for short term housing.”Housing could, however, very well be considered for URI faculty, Lake said.“From a URI perspective, I think it would be interesting to think about this as potentially housing for some of the faculty that are probably having a hard time finding it currently,” Lake said. The next step for the project is to compile the information from these meetings and present it to the council, Lake said.The information will be presented sometime in October or November. Rhode Island is having a bond referendum on Nov. 5 where a $120 million bond towards housing is at stake, according to Ballotpedia 2024 Rhode Island ballot questions . If approved, bond money will be used to give the Ocean State a housing boost. </div></body>

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SK begins outreach for affordable housing plan

In order to mitigate housing struggles, the South Kingstown Town Council began community outreach about an affordable housing initiative that plans to renovate three properties on Aug. 22. The three sites include South Road School, Wakefield Elementary School and the Oliver Watson House, according to the South Kingstown Council website...