ADU rules in Newport

Newport's Chapter 17.79 (Ord. No. 2024-27, adopted 8-28-2024) copies the three statutory by-right circumstances and adds no other path. A detached ADU is allowed by right only on a residential-district lot of 20,000 sq ft or more, inside the existing footprint of an existing detached accessory structure such as a garage (with up to 100 sq ft of expansion solely for ingress and egress), or on an owner-occupied property as a reasonable accommodation for family members with disabilities. A new detached cottage on an ordinary lot under 20,000 sq ft has no permit path at all: the district use lists do not mention ADUs and there is no special use permit route. Under the Rhode Island directory convention this is 'conditional'.

An internal ADU (basement, attic or other conversion inside the existing footprint of the house or an existing attached structure) is allowed by right on any lot in a residential district under §17.79.020(C), with up to 100 sq ft of footprint expansion allowed only for ingress and egress (§17.79.030(D)). An addition that expands the footprint is by right only on a lot of 20,000 sq ft or more or as a disability accommodation on an owner-occupied property; on smaller lots it has no path. Expanding a nonconforming structure (for example adding a floor) to hold an ADU needs a dimensional variance under Chapter 17.108 (§17.79.040(C)(2)).

§17.79.030(B) sets a studio or one-bedroom ADU at up to 900 sq ft or 60 percent of the floor area of the principal building, whichever is less, and a two-bedroom ADU at up to 1,200 sq ft or 60 percent, whichever is less; minimum size follows the building code and two bedrooms is the maximum. These are exactly the floors that R.I. Gen. Laws §45-24-73(b)(1) requires a town to allow, so Newport sets its cap at the statutory minimum. Setbacks and height follow the accessory structure table in §17.78.020 (for example R-10: 5 ft side and rear for structures up to 12 ft tall, 10 ft above that, 26 ft height limit; R-40: 10 ft and 20 ft, 26 ft). One ADU per lot.

Owner occupancy appears only in the disability-accommodation circumstance of §17.79.020(A) ('On an owner-occupied property as a reasonable accommodation for family members with disabilities'), mirroring R.I. Gen. Laws §45-24-73(a)(1). ADUs on 20,000 sq ft lots or within an existing footprint carry no owner-occupancy requirement. Separately, §17.79.030(H) requires every structure on the lot to stay in single or undivided ownership, so the ADU cannot be sold off as a condominium, and §17.79.040(E) confirms a legal ADU is not revoked on transfer of title or occupancy.

§17.79.030(F): 'One parking space is required for an ADU, which shall be located on the same lot. Any parking spaces removed due to the ADU must be offset on site.' The state cap in R.I. Gen. Laws §45-24-73(b)(2)(viii) is one space per bedroom, so the single space is within the cap for one- and two-bedroom units; for a studio with no bedroom the local requirement arguably exceeds the statutory cap.

Every ADU Newport allows is decided administratively: §17.79.040(A) says ADUs meeting the chapter's applicability criteria and zoning requirements 'shall be reviewed and decided administratively' and are filed as a building permit through the city's online permitting system, matching R.I. Gen. Laws §45-24-37(e). There is no special use permit path for ADUs outside the three circumstances; they are simply not allowed. Two add-ons can apply: a certificate of appropriateness from the Historic District Commission for exterior changes or a new detached ADU in the historic district (§17.79.040(B)), and a variance where a nonconforming structure's footprint is expanded (§17.79.040(C)(2)); an ADU entirely within a nonconforming shell is exempt from the special use permit otherwise required for nonconforming structures (§17.79.040(C)(1)).

R.I. Gen. Laws §45-24-73(b)(8) bars renting any ADU for tourist or transient use (under 30 consecutive days) or through a hosting platform, and Newport repeats the bar in §17.79.030(J) ('ADUs shall not be offered or rented for guest house or transient use or through a hosting platform'); the chapter's stated purpose is 'the provision of long-term rental housing' (§17.79.010). Newport's transient guest facility registration under Chapter 5.40 (annual registration with the short term rental supervisor, $1,000 fee, hotel-tax certificate) therefore cannot be used for an ADU. Tenants cannot be limited by family relationship or age (§45-24-73(b)(2)(i)), and §17.79.030(H) keeps the lot in undivided ownership, so no separate sale.