Zoning, building permits and septic rules in Town of East Greenwich, Rhode Island

Town of East Greenwich’s own rules

• Building code adoptedAdopted (with conditions)

  Buildings inside East Greenwich town limits.

  • The adopted code is the Rhode Island State Building Code as amended from time to time.

  “shall be the Rhode Island State Building Code”

• Local zoningPresent (with conditions)

  Land inside East Greenwich town limits.

  • Chapter 260 was adopted by the Town Council and has subsequent amendments.

  “Adopted by the Town Council of the Town of East Greenwich”

• Zoning districtsPublished (with conditions)

  Zoning districts inside East Greenwich town limits.

  • The adopted zoning chapter publishes tables of permitted uses and dimensional regulations by zone.

  “Attachment 1 - Table 1, Table of Permitted Uses by Zone Attachment 2 - Table 2, Table of Dimensional Regulations by Zone”

• Subdividing landRegulated (with conditions)

  Land developments and subdivisions inside East Greenwich town limits.

  • The chapter contains separate procedures for minor land development and minor subdivision review.

  “General provisions: minor land development and minor subdivision review.”

• Building in a floodplainRequired

  Construction or other development within a special flood hazard area inside East Greenwich town limits.

  • Development includes filling, grading, excavation, mining, drilling, storage of materials, and temporary stream crossings.
  • Before a building or development permit issues, the applicant must submit evidence of necessary federal and state approvals; a Town fee based on construction cost may be required and an additional professional-engineer assistance fee may be charged.

  “All proposed construction or other development within a special flood hazard area shall require a permit.”

• Permit processPartial

  Applicants seeking a building permit inside East Greenwich town limits.

  • The submitted site plan must identify the main and accessory structures relative to property lines, groundwater or sewage-disposal information, foundation elevation, wetlands, a benchmark, road elevation, and specified grading information.

  “Any person seeking a building permit shall first submit a site plan with the following information:”

Rules another office applies inside Town of East Greenwich

Town of East Greenwich does not set these itself; the county, a health district or the state does, and they apply to every address inside its limits.

• Accessory dwellingsAllowed (with conditions)

  Accessory apartments in the Planned Development and Mixed Use Planned Development zones inside East Greenwich town limits.

  • The permitted-use table codes Y as permitted and identifies accessory apartments as permitted only in its final two zone columns, PD and MUPD.

  “Accessory apartment N N N N N N N N N N N N N Y Y”

Still unanswered

We looked and could not find an official answer yet. Silence is not permission; ask Town of East Greenwich or Kent County directly.

• Building permit — General new residential construction inside East Greenwich town limits.
• Owner-builder exemption — Owner-built residential construction inside East Greenwich town limits.
• Inspections — General residential construction inside East Greenwich town limits.
• Certificate of occupancy — Residential occupancy inside East Greenwich town limits.
• Minimum dwelling size — Residential dwellings inside East Greenwich town limits.

Each answer was extracted from an official source and independently re-checked against that source by a second reviewer. That is an evidence check, not legal advice. Rules change; confirm with the authority before you buy or build.

Off-grid gear

Going off-grid in Town of East Greenwich means bringing your own water and power. The kit we’d start with:

• Water Crystal Quest Filter any source — well, rain, or creek — to drinking-clean.
• Power Bluetti Solar generators and home battery backup for living off the grid.
• Septic Soil percolation test kit Run your own perc test before paying an engineer — the first thing a septic office asks about.
• Water Well water test kit Bacteria, nitrates, hardness — know what the well on a parcel is really pumping.

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