---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO TOWNS AND CITIES -- ZONING ORDINANCES"
description: "Adds a definition for \"co-living housing\" to the zoning ordinance provisions of the general laws and would include such housing as a special provision to be included in a zoning ordinance."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2025"
identifier: "HB 5797"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 5797 (2025)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bennett", "Caldwell", "DeSimone", "Fogarty", "McEntee", "Morales", "O'Brien", "Phillips", "Shallcross Smith", "Spears"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 15
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2025-02-27"
last_action: "2025-06-30"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/805896c0-b739-4052-8b94-7edbf17aae61"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "6269a471279e63fd75c75003f162d4c9cd8f57dd2fd119c811255dead44c251d"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ri"]
---

# Rhode Island HB 5797 (2025) — AN ACT RELATING TO TOWNS AND CITIES -- ZONING ORDINANCES

Adds a definition for "co-living housing" to the zoning ordinance provisions of the general laws and would include such housing as a special provision to be included in a zoning ordinance.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **5797 SUB A** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/HouseText25/H5797A.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **60–9** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Bennett — primary (person)
- Caldwell — primary (person)
- DeSimone — primary (person)
- Fogarty — primary (person)
- McEntee — primary (person)
- Morales — primary (person)
- O'Brien — primary (person)
- Phillips — primary (person)
- Shallcross Smith — primary (person)
- Spears — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2025-02-27** 02/27/2025 Introduced, referred to House Municipal Government & Housing `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2025-03-07** 03/07/2025 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (03/11/2025)
- **2025-03-11** 03/11/2025 Committee recommended measure be held for further study `committee-failure`
- **2025-03-14** 03/14/2025 Scheduled for consideration (03/20/2025)
- **2025-03-14** 03/14/2025 Proposed Substitute `substitution`
- **2025-03-20** 03/20/2025 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-03-28** 03/28/2025 Placed on House Calendar (04/01/2025) `reading-3`
- **2025-04-01** 04/01/2025 House passed Sub A `passage`
- **2025-06-11** 06/11/2025 Referred to Senate Housing and Municipal Government `referral-committee`
- **2025-06-16** 06/16/2025 Scheduled for consideration (06/18/2025)
- **2025-06-18** 06/18/2025 Committee recommends passage of Sub A in concurrence `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-06-18** 06/18/2025 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/20/2025) `reading-3`
- **2025-06-21** 06/21/2025 Senate passed Sub A in concurrence `passage`
- **2025-06-25** 06/25/2025 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2025-06-30** 06/30/2025 Signed by Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/805896c0-b739-4052-8b94-7edbf17aae61`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).