Land Use & Zoning

What is a 'moratorium' in the context of Rhode Island land use?

AA permanent ban on all development

BA temporary suspension of permit issuance or development approvals while a municipality updates its plans or infrastructure✓ Correct

CA state law requiring municipalities to approve all affordable housing permits

DA CRMC prohibition on coastal development

Explanation

A development moratorium is a temporary halt on permit issuance or approvals, allowing a municipality time to study growth impacts, update its comprehensive plan, or address infrastructure constraints before allowing additional development.

People Also Study

Key Terms to Know

Zoning

Local government regulations that control land use by dividing areas into zones specifying permitted uses, building sizes, and densities.

Variance

Official permission to use land in a way that does not conform to the applicable zoning ordinance, granted by a zoning board when strict enforcement would cause undue hardship.

Eminent Domain

The power of government to take private property for public use, with the requirement to pay the owner just compensation.

Adverse Possession

A doctrine by which a person can gain legal title to another's land by openly, continuously, and adversely occupying it for a statutory period.