---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO TOWNS AND CITIES -- ZONING ORDINANCES"
description: "Adds \"providing for residential development in all or some of the areas encompassing commercial districts\" as a purpose a zoning ordinance must address."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2025"
identifier: "HB 5800"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 5800 (2025)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bennett", "Casey", "Casimiro", "Craven", "McEntee", "Noret", "Solomon", "Speakman", "Spears", "Tanzi"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 17
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2025-02-27"
last_action: "2025-06-27"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/6934fa34-8920-48d3-9184-275efcf5b2ec"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "372f50ce745c9314a795269009408ae6cd947e3f98a3517ac89bbd7989ebc9ee"
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 5800 (2025) — AN ACT RELATING TO TOWNS AND CITIES -- ZONING ORDINANCES

Adds "providing for residential development in all or some of the areas encompassing commercial districts" as a purpose a zoning ordinance must address.

## Version chain

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

1. **5800 SUB A** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/HouseText25/H5800A.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **61–9** (pass) · lower
- IN CONCURRENCE — **50–9** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Bennett — primary (person)
- Casey — primary (person)
- Casimiro — primary (person)
- Craven — primary (person)
- McEntee — primary (person)
- Noret — primary (person)
- Solomon — primary (person)
- Speakman — primary (person)
- Spears — primary (person)
- Tanzi — 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)
- **2025-03-20** 03/20/2025 Committee recommends passage `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 read and passed `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)
- **2025-06-17** 06/17/2025 Proposed Substitute `substitution`
- **2025-06-18** 06/18/2025 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `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 `passage`
- **2025-06-21** 06/21/2025 Placed on House Calendar (06/20/2025) `reading-3`
- **2025-06-21** 06/21/2025 House passed Sub A in concurrence `passage`
- **2025-06-23** 06/23/2025 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2025-06-27** 06/27/2025 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/6934fa34-8920-48d3-9184-275efcf5b2ec`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).