Providence, R.I. – Rhode Island’s House Speaker, K. Joseph Shekarchi, is tackling the complex regulatory challenges that have delayed the state's first pallet shelter community by introducing new legislation aimed at simplifying the process for constructing emergency shelters. The move is part of ongoing efforts to address the state’s growing homelessness crisis and ensure that temporary shelters can be deployed more quickly during times of need.

“Temporary housing needs a special category,” Shekarchi emphasized in an interview. “Just because it’s hard doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.”

The proposed legislation, House Bill 489, establishes a new category of emergency shelter units known as Supportive and Versatile Emergency (SAVE) units, designed to help communities quickly address the needs of those without homes. SAVE units, which must be at least 70 square feet in size, would be required to meet basic safety standards, including climate control, fire and carbon monoxide detectors, fire extinguishers, a locking door, and windows. The bill also allows municipalities to be exempt from specific fire and building codes for up to 180 days if an emergency is declared. These provisions aim to streamline the approval process for temporary housing, such as the pallet shelters at ECHO Village in Providence.

The delays in opening ECHO Village, which consists of 45 one-room cabins designed as temporary emergency shelter, have highlighted the challenges of working within the state’s existing building codes. The project, a $3.3 million initiative to provide shelter for Rhode Island’s homeless population, has faced significant hurdles due to the ambiguity surrounding how to categorize the shelters. The state’s Fire Marshal’s office ultimately decided to apply hotel and dormitory codes to the pallet cabins, despite their freestanding nature.

“These pallet shelters and type of housing we’re trying to get at are not hotels — they should not be reviewed as such,” Shekarchi explained. The delays have caused significant frustration among lawmakers, with nearly two-thirds of them urging Governor Dan McKee to declare a state of emergency to expedite the opening of ECHO Village. However, McKee has resisted, arguing that such a declaration would not bring federal funding and could complicate the relaxation of building codes.

Despite the pushback, Shekarchi remains committed to ensuring that Rhode Island can respond more swiftly to emergencies in the future. "Unfortunately, weather events are getting more prevalent and more severe,” Shekarchi noted, underscoring the importance of having a streamlined process for deploying emergency shelters during climate-related crises.

ECHO Village is now slated to open by the end of February, but Shekarchi’s legislation is designed to make future efforts more efficient. He believes that by introducing a special category for emergency shelters, Rhode Island can better address both housing shortages and the growing demand for rapid solutions to homelessness. “We need to take a proactive approach to making sure if we need pallet shelters in the future, we can expedite them,” he stated.

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The bill will now be reviewed by the House Committee on Municipal Government and Housing. Shekarchi hopes to see the legislation pass through the House within the next 60 days. While the bill has yet to gain traction in the Senate, Shekarchi is confident that support will grow as the need for flexible, cost-effective solutions to the state’s homelessness crisis becomes increasingly urgent.

As lawmakers continue to explore ways to address homelessness, the push for more affordable housing, including emergency shelters like ECHO Village, is becoming a central issue in Rhode Island’s legislative agenda. "We cannot afford to wait any longer,” Shekarchi concluded. “The time to act is now.”

The bill’s progress and public hearings are expected to attract significant attention, as Rhode Island residents and advocacy groups continue to push for faster, more efficient methods of addressing the homelessness crisis.