This Section authorizes the creation of growth management that will control the rate of growth as permitted by this ordinance.

The purpose of growth management is to equitably allocate a limited number of building permits over time, so as to minimize the burden on existing facilities and resources, whose adequacy is essential to the public health, safety and welfare, and in a manner which is consistent with the Charlestown Comprehensive Community Plan. It is the intent of this Section to allow controlled growth in relation to the existing and future capacity of town facilities and the Chariho Regional School District.

The Town Council, Planning Commission, Town staff and consultants have conducted studies to develop a growth management program as called for in the Comprehensive Community Plan. The Town Council finds that these studies and documents, listed below, establish the basis for the Town's Growth Management Program, and are incorporated herein by reference:

Issuance of building permits authorizing creation of one or more dwelling units, as defined by § 218-5, through new construction or change of use shall be allowed only under the procedures and requirements set forth herein. Applicants for such residential building permits shall be authorized to proceed in the manner specified herein, and in accordance with the priority assigned to them. The total number of dwelling units authorized to begin construction in any quarter shall not exceed the calculated quota as established in § 218-36.

There shall be a finite number of residential building permits for each quarter of each year. A quarter is defined as a three-month period that begins on the first day of January, April, July or October. From the effective date of this Section to April 1, 2000, there shall be no residential permits issued whatsoever. Thereafter, the number of residential permits to be issued shall be limited in accordance with the following formula:

Following the method established in § 218-86, the calculation of the formula for the third and all subsequent quarters shall be performed by the Building Official and shall be submitted to the Town Council, the Planning Commission and posted in the office of the Town Clerk not less than thirty (30) days prior to the commencement of the quarter for which the quota is to be applied. To assist the Building Official in his/her calculation, the Building Official shall request, in writing, that the Superintendent of the Chariho Regional School District supply him/her the number of available seats in the school district based on the current capacity less the actual enrollment as of October 1 of the school calendar year, and the increase in seat capacity, projected from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2009 based upon an adopted plan of the Chariho Regional School Committee. The Building Official shall monitor the Chariho Regional School District's overall capacity by checking with the Superintendent of the Chariho Regional School District every first day of February, March, August and November to determine if there are any changes in available seats. If there are no changes, the Building Official shall notify the Town Clerk that the number of permits to be issued the next quarter will be the same as the previous quarter. If there are changes in seats, the Building Official shall recalculate the quota and notify the Town Clerk of the new number of permits to be issued the next quarter. Notwithstanding any changes, the quota shall not change in the middle of any given quarter.

The effective date of this Article shall be the date of its enactment. Any application for a building permit creating one or more additional dwelling units submitted after the effective date of this Article shall be subject to the review procedures set forth herein. Permit applications submitted before the effective date of this Article shall not be subject to any of the quota limitations of this Article. This Article shall supercede any and all ordinances inconsistent herewith.

The following types of dwellings shall not be subject to the provisions of this Article with regard to the calculated quota. These dwellings have been determined to have no or minimal impact upon the Town's capacity or provide positive benefits to the Town which are consistent with the Comprehensive Community Plan. The Building Official shall accept applications for construction of the dwellings listed below and shall act upon them without regard to the quotas, priority determination and procedures as set forth in this Article. All such permits issued shall be considered to be issued in addition to the calculated quota provisions of this Article. Complete applications for construction of dwelling units so authorized shall be granted permits within the time limits prescribed in the Rhode Island State Building Code, regardless of the availability of permits within the quota.

Building permits shall be issued by the Building Official up to the maximum number permitted by the applicable calculated quota, in the order of priority assigned below. In the event of a tie, priority shall go to the application with the earlier date and time of the submission of a complete application.

In order to assure that permits for residential building construction are equitably distributed among all qualified applicants, no more than five (5) building permits for dwelling units shall be granted to any single applicant, owner or group of owners of any single subdivision or land development project receiving preliminary approval after the effective date of this Article within any quarter if doing so would result in denial of a permit for any other applicant. No more than five (5) building permits for dwelling units during any quarter shall be issued to any single applicant if doing so would result in denial of a permit for any other applicant.

This Article shall expire December 31, 2009 and shall be reviewed for applicability by the Planning Commission no later than December 31, 2005.