SC officials say regs have aided home projects

SOUTH KINGSTOWN – South County town officials say regulations enacted in 2012 have allowed dozens of small home-improvement projects that were stalled to go forward.
The regulations were the solution to a “long-standing impasse” between town governments, the R.I. Department of Environmental Management, the R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council and the Rhode Island Builders Association, the officials said in a news release.
They look to boost home-improvement projects, open the door to new wastewater-treatment technologies and promote efforts to restore and protect coastal ponds.
The new rules exempt most home-improvement projects of up to 600 square feet from a requirement to upgrade. Additionally, more projects would have gone forward, the group agreed, if not for the effect Hurricane Sandy had in diverting most contractors toward necessary repair work and away from home-improvement projects. •