Central Falls releases new housing report on barriers, recommendations, and opportunities for development and investment to address housing crisis

CENTRAL FALLS, RI (August 6, 2021) – Following a recent July Housing Resource Fair to connect residents with key housing resources, today Central Falls released its first-ever Housing Report on barriers, recommendations, and opportunities to address the City’s growing affordable housing crisis.

Recommendations and solutions outlined in the report stem from housing problems and hurdles identified during a three-day Housing Summit hosted earlier this spring, in partnership with United way of Rhode Island and the Latino Policy Institute, focused on spotlighting the specific housing needs of the City and a path forward. The report, Building Central Falls: Creating a Stronger, Safer City Through Housing Opportunities, highlights regulatory limitations and restrictions that impact the City’s ability to access funds and opportunities for housing development, in addition to specific new development and investment opportunities that can address the housing needs of the City.

“Before this pandemic, many of our families were struggling to keep a roof over their heads, particularly one that was both safe and affordable. Add in the crippling economic and health impacts of the last 18 months, we now have more families than ever struggling to make ends meet. We hear from residents constantly on their growing concerns, like eviction, homelessness, dangerous lead in old apartments, and the inability to find a place to live,” said Mayor Maria Rivera. “As one of the most densely populated cities in the U.S. with limited open land available, we need to get creative. We have specific opportunities outlined for both development and investment, in addition to policy recommendations, and with the right resources, can immediately begin helping our City overcome our affordable housing crisis.”

“Our Summit highlighted what our community needs and policy advocates molded that into important recommendations,” continued Mayor Rivera. “Importantly, the City has also identified a dozen properties that can be developed immediately if affordable housing dollars are targeted to Central Falls.”

Throughout the three-day Housing Summit, voices from the community, like local pediatrician Dr. Beata Nelken, spoke of the City’s growing child lead poisoning epidemic, which has spiked during the pandemic due to children spending more time at home in old, unsafe housing stock, to members of the school community, like Denise DeBarros, Central Falls School District Director of Family Engagement and Community Empowerment, calling attention to the shocking statistic that 53 students are currently experiencing homelessness. The report also outlines financial burdens, homeownership opportunities, and neighborhood safety needs brought to the table during the Summit, with the report outlining recommendations forward.

“Not only is accessible, affordable housing vital to our state’s ability to thrive, there is absolutely nothing more important to the overall wellbeing of our neighbors. In Central Falls, the pandemic has made the need for more affordable housing options very clear,” said Kristina Brown, United Way of Rhode Island’s program officer of housing & economic policy. “Based on what we heard during the housing summit, it is imperative that we both address the barriers that prevent homeownership for far too many and make the necessary investments to create more homes. Safe, affordable, healthy housing is not a privilege – it is a basic right we all share.”

In addition to specific needs and concerns raised by the community, the report specifically identifies potential vacant properties that include parcels hard to develop, former industrial lands that sit idle waiting for redevelopment, and underutilized properties like large parking lots.

“The Central Falls Housing Summit was an incredible example of community engagement and leadership. By thoughtfully engaging stakeholders, community members, advocates and decision makers, the City of Central Falls demonstrated that housing and the overall wellness of the community is a priority,” said Marcela Betancur, Director of the Latino Policy Institute. “The Building Central Falls report seeks to highlight the barriers and opportunities that exist in Central Falls and the many reasons why our state and municipal leaders must continue investing in this beautiful square mile.”

Some key recommendations outlined in the report include:

• Utilizing 2021 affordable housing bond dollars to invest in specific Central Falls development (Central Falls received no bond dollars for housing from the last statewide 2016 housing bond) and re-evaluating the approach and process for which dollars are distributed via the Housing Resource Commission’s Building Homes Rhode Island Program.
• Appointing Central Falls representatives to the Housing Resource Commission, an opportunity for the Governor’s administration to appoint members that represent the needs and lived experiences of under-served communities like Central Falls.
• Utilizing the state’s American Rescue Plan funds to further invest in housing in Central Falls and growing the City’s new Housing Trust, launched in early 2021, to help prioritize the City’s infrastructure and programmatic needs around housing.
• Launching a state-level “Build Communities” fund, allowing for greater flexibility of access and use for cities and towns that may have difficulty providing first dollars for a project as well as help with property acquisition.
• Updating the City’s land use regulations to encourage the development of housing, like changing the approach to zoning from the traditional Euclidean zoning (that establishes lot sizes, setbacks, density requirements) to a true Form Based Code (developers can build within a framework of building style but allows whatever density the developer finds marketable).
• Prioritizing a new Central Falls community center, which would directly address the current void the City has with limited community-space for key community events that support issues like housing and health (i.e. vaccine clinics, additional housing resource fairs, etc.) and directly support enhanced quality of life for City residents.
• Utilizing the City’s new Office of Constituent Services and Health to continue responding to the housing and health needs of residents – a critical resource as more residents face eviction and many may qualify for key programs like RentReliefRI.
• Pre-development acquisition of properties by the City to make properties available for free to developers to create more affordable housing.

Read the full report by clicking here, or visit www.centralfallsri.gov/housing to learn more.