By Megan Wallitsch

Originally published by East Greenwich News, an Ocean State Stories partner, via Community News Lab.

“These numbers, I think, really bring home the challenge we have and the breadth of the housing crisis, an urgency that we feel.”

EAST GREENWICH — East Greenwich News hosted a housing forum last Tuesday (Oct. 28) at Cole Middle School with Rhode Island Housing Secretary Deborah Goddard, who outlined the challenges facing the state and then took questions from a number of those in the audience. 

“Like most of our country, we’re facing huge increases over time in rent and housing costs,” Goddard said.

Between 2018 and 2024, she said, home sale prices increased by 65 percent and rents increased by 60 percent, but wages only increased by 29 percent. 

“We can all do the math and know we’re in trouble,” she said.

She noted that Rhode Island’s rate of permitting for new housing over the past decade has ranked last in the country. While 79 percent of Rhode Islanders say the state needs more housing, Goddard said it’s where that housing goes that can become contentious. “Yes, the state needs more housing, the region needs more housing. My neighborhood doesn’t need more housing,” she said, paraphrasing the type of pushback she’s heard.

In recent years, the General Assembly has passed new laws meant to encourage housing construction. The state also has a goal of creating 15,000 new housing units by the end of 2030, Goddard said. Each community in the state has a target; East Greenwich’s is to develop 111 housing units and 17 affordable housing options. Find the 2030 plan here: Housing 2030 (10/9/2025). 

“The 15,000 units that we have as a five-year goal sounds like a big number and a small number at the same time,” commented audience member Rachel Silverman. 

Silverman questioned how the state came up with that number and if that number will have to be adjusted over the next five years. 

Goddard said the 15,000 number was derived by looking at trends in family formation, inflow and outflow rates and, most notably, vacancy rates across the state.

“All those [factors] went into [it] with our consultants, but I would say that in the end, the primary measure of health was the vacancy rate that we need to get to, to loosen the market and make it work at better prices,” Goddard said. She said she thought 15,000 more units would really help.

An important part of addressing affordability within the state is working to preserve the affordable homes that are already built, she added. That’s because a lot of deeded-restricted affordable units are only deeded restricted for 30 years. 

“If we don’t preserve the affordable stock we have, as we take one step forward, we’re going to take one step back,” Goddard said. 

Resident Denise Lopez expressed frustration that East Greenwich has to follow state laws, taking away the town’s power to guide its own destiny. Lopez and a couple of others in attendance argued that these units are causing East Greenwich to lose the character that drew them to the town in the first place. 

Goddard said the goals were “fairly modest” and would help to keep economies growing.

“These numbers, I think, really bring home the challenge we have and the breadth of the housing crisis, an urgency that we feel,” Goddard said, noting they were making progress and needed to keep going.

But there was a bit of a disconnect for some in the audience between what Goddard was talking about – the 2030 goals – and a law that’s been on the books for more than 30 years mandating that each city and town in the state have 10 percent of their housing stock be considered affordable*. That law, allowing developers to bypass some regulatory hurdles and gain density bonuses if they are willing to make 25 percent of their units deed-restricted affordable, has been used with more frequency in recent years. 

One example is a 410-unit plan in the northwestern corner of town, off Division Road. That project still needs final plan approval but if built would represent the largest single development in the town’s history. Another project that has come under a lot of scrutiny is the 43-unit Ridgeline Condominiums and Estates, also on Division Road. That parcel abuts Faith Hill Farm, a horse farm. The developer got approval to build but Pam Maloof, owner of FHF, filed suit to stop the project, arguing it would irreparably harm her business. That project remains in ligitation limbo. 

At the forum, resident Alan Clarke said he didn’t understand why East Greenwich had to be a part of the state-wide housing plan at all. 

“I understand it’s a nice place to live,” Clarke said. “I’ve lived here all my life, so I know it’s a nice place to live, but it’s losing the quality that made it what it is in the first place, because every piece of land is being built on.”

Goddard questioned why East Greenwich should be exempt from rules the rest of the state must comply with.

“I think that 111 units built over five years is far from creating an urban environment,” she said, referring to the state’s target for East Greenwich. “It’s far from chewing up your green spaces when it’s done with sensitivity.”

Goddard noted during her presentation that 97 percent of East Greenwich is zoned for single-family units and 2 percent is zoned for multi-family units. Multi-family housing is more cost-effective than single-family homes and generates more tax revenue per acre, she said.

A couple of people voiced concerns about the effects more housing could have on East Greenwich’s school districts and whether they could become overrun with an influx of new residents.

“So that’s part of the reason why we’re here and having this conversation is because we are paying that amount of taxes because we love our town the way it is and we bought into it,” resident Rick Perry said.

Goddard said she did not think the school system in East Greenwich would suffer from an increase in housing. 

She and others in the audience did point out the benefit of housing projects that supply 100 percent affordable units, including the recently opened Soria apartment complex on Frenchtown Road. Those are the types of developments that really move the needle in terms of getting to 10 percent, said resident Susan Aitcheson.

Find Deborah Goddard’s presentation here: EG Community Panel – Housing 10/28/25