---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO TOWNS AND CITIES -- ZONING ORDINANCES"
description: "Amends the administration requirements a zoning ordinance must provide and/or designate and would require that zoning certificates be issued within 20 days of the written request."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2025"
identifier: "HB 5795"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 5795 (2025)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Boylan", "Caldwell", "Cotter", "Dawson", "Donovan", "Knight", "McEntee", "O'Brien", "Speakman", "Spears"]
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/c1e04e74-8b8b-4edb-a086-0329366285b3"
source_url: "https://status.rilegislature.gov/"
source_hash: "2905cb26d24d8edb3def9ef84337054df17c7ddaf450b5b9558a6aebb22e2fe6"
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 5795 (2025) — AN ACT RELATING TO TOWNS AND CITIES -- ZONING ORDINANCES

Amends the administration requirements a zoning ordinance must provide and/or designate and would require that zoning certificates be issued within 20 days of the written request.

## Version chain

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

1. **5795 SUB A** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilegislature.gov/BillText/BillText25/HouseText25/H5795A.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **64–0** (pass) · lower
- IN CONCURRENCE — **54–5** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Boylan — primary (person)
- Caldwell — primary (person)
- Cotter — primary (person)
- Dawson — primary (person)
- Donovan — primary (person)
- Knight — primary (person)
- McEntee — primary (person)
- O'Brien — primary (person)
- Speakman — 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 Judiciary `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2025-03-14** 03/14/2025 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (03/18/2025)
- **2025-03-18** 03/18/2025 Committee recommended measure be held for further study `committee-failure`
- **2025-04-04** 04/04/2025 Scheduled for consideration (04/08/2025)
- **2025-04-08** 04/08/2025 Committee recommends passage `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-04-29** 04/29/2025 Placed on House Calendar (05/01/2025) `reading-3`
- **2025-05-01** 05/01/2025 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/c1e04e74-8b8b-4edb-a086-0329366285b3`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).