Maximum house sizes on Block Island are going to shrink, at least for a while. The Town Council voted to amend zoning regulations related to the size and massing of residential structures, reducing size limits in the Zoning Ordinance found in Section 514 and Section 111.Section 406 of the zoning ordinance establishes thresholds on size and scale of residential structures, and to cross these thresholds requires a special use permit. Sections 514 and 111 establish absolute maximums above which residential structures are prohibited from being constructed, even with a special use permit. The changes do not affect the standards established in Section 406.
Writing to the town council, the Planning Board said: “There is a concern that a trending disregard for these standards (in section 406) is occurring and there is an expectation that as long as the structures are below prohibited size levels (in sections 514 and 111) approvals should be granted.”The Planning Board further advised the town council to adopt lower absolute maximums as a way to ensure the sizes of new construction keep in line with the “character of the island.”
The reductions in limits amended in the two sections of the zoning ordinance lower
