We need to find real ways to create affordable housing in Tiverton, RI. But the "Comprehensive Permit" process in Rhode Island Law 45-53-4 is not working well for our town.

Right now, five building projects are being reviewed by Tiverton's Planning Board which would add 737 new homes to our town. Only 185 of these homes (25%) would be affordable and even more building projects are on the way. This is too much, too fast for a small town like Tiverton.

This fast growth will mean:

• Many more people moving to Tiverton
• Higher costs for water, sewer, schools, police, fire, and roads
• Higher taxes for people who already live here
• Significant risk to our limited water supply and environment.

Rhode Island Law 45-53-4 takes away Tiverton's power to control its own growth. The law uses the same rules for all 39 Rhode Island towns, no matter how different they are. Our town can no longer control its own zoning laws.

The law allowed builders to add significantly more homes if just 25% of the total are affordable. While adding affordable housing is something that each community should support, this approach doesn't effectively support that goal, nor is it fair to existing residents . It's not clear if these homes are even being built for people from Tiverton or Rhode Island. Builders say they want to attract people from Massachusetts, especially those who can take the train to Boston.

We, the people who sign below, ask our state lawmakers - Senators Felag and DePalma, Representatives Edwards and McGaw, and House Speaker Sherkarchi - to fix the problems with Law 45-53-4. We want Tiverton (and other RI towns) to reach the goal of 10% affordable housing in ways that:

• Follow our town's Community Plan
• Protect our quality of life
• Protects our natural resources and ensures everyone has enough quantity and quality of water
• Don't force taxpayers to pay for expensive new services
• Allow reasonable growth that our town can handle