The New Shoreham Town Council on Monday raised the maximum fine for outdoor entertainment license violations to $500, approved a package of zoning ordinance amendments, and heard a lengthy update on the state property tax on high-value second homes that has generated tax bills for year-round island residents. The council met Monday evening beginning at 6:30 p.m., according to the town's published meeting recording.
The most detailed discussion of the night was not a vote at all. Two consultants who handle the town's legislative work at the State House walked the council through the 2026 General Assembly session, including a resolution on tick-borne illness, a stalled moped license bill, and the state's new property tax on homes assessed above $1 million.
Outdoor entertainment fines raised to $500
The town's fee schedule had set the penalty for outdoor entertainment license violations at $100. Staff told the council that state law allows municipalities to fine up to $500, and recommended the increase.
One council member questioned language in the state statute that also references imprisonment, asking whether raising the fine converted the violation into a criminal offense. Staff and the town's legal counsel said it did not, and that the material in the packet was the text of the existing state law showing the ceiling, not proposed language.
Local sponsorAffordable photography lessons in Newport, Jamestown, or your town.E.L. Photo RIThe council settled on writing the fee as "up to $500" rather than a flat $500, so the Board of License Commissioners — the panel that hears these cases — keeps discretion to impose a smaller amount. The motion to increase the fine to up to $500 was approved by voice vote.
Zoning amendments approved
A consultant identified as Peter presented what he called one of the more complicated zoning amendments the council would see. He said the changes respond to General Assembly action in 2023 and 2025 that narrowed when a town may use development plan review — a local process in which officials check a proposed development against local standards — and pushed more applications toward the Planning Board rather than the Zoning Board.
Under the changes, projects such as the medical center renovation, the school and the landfill would move into a three-step public review process rather than the shorter process used previously. The consultant said that means more public hearings and more work for design consultants.
Council members pressed repeatedly on whether the amendments would restrict accessory dwelling units, known locally as 5-13s. The consultant said the ADU provisions are unchanged and that the amendment only corrects a reference to design standards that moved to the subdivision regulations in 2023.
One member asked a question with a direct answer for neighbors: if a neighbor applies to build an ADU while she is off-island for the winter, is she notified? The consultant said no — if the application complies with state law, on at least a half-acre lot and within setbacks, there is no public notice requirement the town can impose. "There's nothing the town can do to require public notice," he said.
The council approved the ordinance by voice vote.
Consent agenda, town-owned housing rents
The council approved its consent agenda by voice vote after several changes. A consent agenda groups routine items into a single vote. One lease item was pulled because it renews in December, and the council discussed shifting that renewal date to line up with the others.
An official disclosed rents for town-owned apartments: $1,500 a month for a two-bedroom and $1,100 for a one-bedroom, not including utilities. A council member asked whether the town inspects the units annually. Amy, the town manager, said it does not, but that the town has right of entry and enters units at turnover. She said annual inspections may make sense for long-term tenancies as the buildings age.
The consent agenda also ratified, after the fact, a special event license for a powwow held earlier in the summer. The application came in later than the required 30 days, and the town manager said a miscommunication kept the applicant's appeal from reaching the council. All department heads had signed off, she said.
The council also appointed an alternate member to the Board of Canvassers by voice vote, and noted that it is still seeking a Republican for a full seat, because the board requires party affiliation. Open vacancies listed included the school building committee, an age-friendly task force seat, a library trustee seat and the Early Learning Center board.
State property tax on second homes
A consultant on the town's legislative team spent the longest stretch of the meeting on the state property tax enacted in last year's state budget, describing it as $2.50 for every $500 of assessed value above $1 million, with an exemption for owners who occupy the home at least 183 days a year. Revenue goes to a state low-income housing tax credit fund.
He said the rollout has been poorly handled and that the town and other coastal communities want the tax repealed rather than modified. Officials at the table said year-round residents received bills they should not have received — including one member who said she has lived in her home for 33 years — and that some residents were rejected because the address on their driver's license does not match their home.
The town manager offered a factual correction to the claim that the state has no plan for the money: she said the fund financed projects in the two years before the tax took effect, and that the list is public. But she added that eligibility requires a federally qualified low-income housing project, which she said the island and many similar communities cannot produce. "A lot of the land mass of Rhode Island is not going to be able to participate in these funds," she said.
The consultant said a resolution the council passed did not result in any bill being introduced, which one member called disappointing. He said legislators were reluctant to sponsor it alone in an election year. The plan is to reconvene coastal town managers and councils in November and December and press for the repeal to be included in the governor's budget, due in January.
Tick-borne illness resolution and moped licenses
The council's legislative consultant said a resolution passed June 6 directs the state's environmental and health agencies to study mitigation, education and a regulatory framework for tick-borne illness and deer population control, with a report due to the General Assembly and the council within six months. He said the town's earlier attempt at a statutory carve-out for the island drew opposition from the state environmental agency and from hunting and conservation groups over the precedent it would set.
One member asked whether the resolution includes eradicating the deer population. The consultant said it does not name eradication but leaves measures open for discussion. Another member said he would strongly advocate for including it.
A moped license bill died in committee. The consultant said it would have let license holders voluntarily surrender licenses to the town, with the council able to decline to reissue them — reducing the total number in circulation. He said a license holder appeared with three attorneys in opposition, and that revisions narrowing the surrender definition were not enough to move the bill.
Public safety building and roads
A consultant said he met one-on-one with Governor McKee in April about the deteriorating building the state is responsible for, and that the governor called the state transportation director during the meeting. The town manager said the state has committed $4 million and is funding initial design and permitting, with design updates expected in late fall. She said officials also discussed leaving a second floor unfinished for future use, and that the town made clear it does not want housing added to the project.
Roads are on a separate funding track. The town manager said the town is waiting for a draft subrecipient agreement from the state — the document governing how grant funds are spent and reimbursed — and expects to bring it to the council by the end of September.
Road bid held
A recommendation to award a $289,500 bid to Ocean State Site Work and Hauling for milling the first 1,000 feet of Grace's Cove Road drew sustained questions. Staff said the project is one-third state grant funds and two-thirds town road infrastructure money, that the roadway will be 20 feet wide the full length, and that shoulders will be reshaped into drainage swales because the first roughly 500 feet is flat with no drainage.
One member repeatedly questioned the cost, calculating roughly $200 per foot for millings that the town has bought at around $90 a yard, and asked whether engineering fees were included. Staff said engineering is separate and could not produce the figure at the meeting. Asked whether public works could do the work in-house, the answer was no.
A motion to approve was made, but the discussion ended without a recorded vote on the award. The council indicated remaining questions could be answered at the next meeting.
Housing Board
The chair of the Housing Board reported that a contractor from upstate New York has been hired for a 16-unit development in eight duplex buildings. Foundations for eight buildings are planned for late August or early September, with modular boxes delivered in November. Five buildings — 10 units — are expected to be complete and ready for sale in April. The remaining three foundations will be capped and built later, funded by proceeds from the first sales.
The board has set a price of $265,000 per unit, aimed at buyers from just under 100% up to 140% of area median income. The chair said that is roughly 57% of the cost to build. Community meetings on mortgage qualification begin in September, ahead of a lottery.
Other actions
The council approved a recommendation to raise the annual water and sewer management agreement to $50,000 per company per year, up from about $45,000, by voice vote. Notice must be given by September 1st.
The council also took up a 99-year lease renewal for a memorial park, extending the term from January 2027 to December 2125 and adding a gathering building to the stated purpose.
What's next
The council discussed setting aside a work session after Labor Day to set goals for the town manager evaluation, with an evaluation form to be reviewed at the next meeting. Members also asked for future agenda items on the fire truck, a school building referendum process, and a legal opinion on whether accessory dwelling units affect a property's exposure to the state second-home tax. The road bid questions and an application to expand a liquor service area are expected at the next meeting.