§ 42-64.9-5. Building certification process.
(a) No later than December 1, 2000, a municipality shall submit to the enterprise zone
council a list of industrial mill structures located within the municipality for consideration
by the council as to whether any of these structures qualify as certifiable buildings.
The council will notify the municipality as to which structures qualify as certifiable
buildings.
(b) On or before May 1, 2001, any building designated by the enterprise zone council as
a certifiable building may then be submitted by the municipality to the council for
preliminary designation as a certified building; provided, that the municipality has
given notice to the council:
(1) That the building conforms to the area restriction set forth in square feet in subsection
(d) of this section; and
(2) That within six (6) months of this designation, the municipality agrees to:
(i) Promulgate local regulations and ordinances providing favorable local property tax
treatment for certified industrial mill buildings that are substantially rehabilitated;
(ii) Promulgate local regulations and ordinances to expedite the building permit review
and approval process required in the municipality for the rehabilitation of certified
buildings;
(iii) Promulgate local regulations and ordinances waiving all building permit fees of the
municipality for the rehabilitation of certified buildings;
(iv) Promulgate local regulations and ordinances adopting design standards in the municipality
that encourage historic preservation of certified buildings, or alternatively, adopt
design standards developed and recommended by the Rhode Island historic preservation
commission;
(v) Promulgate local regulations and ordinances requiring that the advice of the Rhode
Island historic preservation commission will be obtained for the rehabilitation of
any certified building in the municipality; and
(vi) Establish a program for eligible businesses which coordinates the economic development
activities of state and local business assistance programs and agencies, including,
but not limited to, the Ocean State business development authority, the Rhode Island
small business development center, the Rhode Island export assistance center, the
applicable private industry council, and the applicable chamber of commerce.
(c) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, the council's preliminary
designation of certified buildings within any municipality shall be limited in accordance
with the following:
(1) One certified building per municipality having a population according to the most
recent federal census of less than twenty-five thousand (25,000); provided, however,
that in the event one or more enterprise zones have been designated in the municipality,
it may be permitted two (2) certified buildings, in which event, at least one of the
certified buildings shall be located within the municipality's boundaries of an enterprise
zone;
(2) Two (2) certified buildings per municipality having a population according to the
most recent federal census of between twenty-five thousand and one (25,001) and seventy-five
thousand (75,000); provided, however, that in the event one or more enterprise zones
have been designated in the municipality it may be permitted three (3) certified buildings,
in which event, at least one of the certified buildings shall be located within the
boundaries of an enterprise zone; and
(3) Four (4) certified buildings per municipality having a population according to the
most recent federal census in excess of seventy-five thousand and one (75,001); provided,
however, that in the event one or more enterprise zones have been designated in the
municipality, it may be permitted six (6) certified buildings, in which event, at
least two (2) of the certified buildings shall be located within the boundaries of
an enterprise zone.
(d) The aggregate square footage of all certified buildings within any municipality shall
not exceed the average of three hundred thousand (300,000) gross square feet per certified
building.