Newport planning board continues review of Waits Wharf hotel-residential project after technical updates

The City of Newport Planning Board continued consideration of the unified development plan for the Waits Wharf hotel-and-residential project after the applicant presented engineering, architectural, environmental and traffic updates and the board agreed to reconvene in May.

The project team told the board the main change since the earlier hearing was moving the south residential building back along the Waits Wharf right-of-way to avoid encroaching on an existing sewer easement; engineers said the sewer alignment will be simplified and the easement formally relocated as part of the infrastructure work. K. Russell Jackson, attorney for the applicant, said staff had reviewed the amended materials and the utilities department had “were okay with that,” and project engineer Joe Mallow told the board, “The biggest engineering component was just the sewer easement... we eliminated a manhole, made it a little bit more direct and increased the slope.”

Why it matters: the changes affect utilities, grading, stormwater and pedestrian circulation on a sensitive harbor-front site that lies in coastal flood zones and is subject to multiple state and municipal reviews. The project team said the redevelopment will bring infrastructure upgrades and stormwater treatment to a site that is largely impervious today.

Board members and consultants heard technical testimony across several disciplines. The civil engineering team described a stormwater approach that combines bioretention areas and underground detention tied to modular wetland systems; the engineer said roughly 67% of proposed impervious surfaces will receive treatment, exceeding local redevelopment requirements. Landscape testimony described a harborwalk edged by vegetated bioretention features and new street trees; the architect said the hotel program has been reduced and reworked to break larger masses into smaller forms and to reduce overall height and room counts, now presented as 89 guest rooms total (54 rooms on the north parcel, 35 on the south) and 14 year-round residential units (seven on each parcel).

Environmental testimony from Sage Environmental explained that much of the waterside property previously entered the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) program and that the redevelopment will rely on established remedies including capping, a soil-management plan and an environmental land-use restriction (ELUR) with annual inspections. Jacob Butterworth of Sage told the board the principal environmental risk on the upland parcels is “direct contact” with historical urban fill and said DEM oversight and standard remedial controls would be required for any intrusive work on those parcels.

Public-safety witnesses described site circulation and emergency access changes. Fire-safety consultant Ray Gomes said the project’s site plan provides for apparatus circulation around the buildings, adds hydrants to improve marine-side access and locates building systems and egress above base flood elevations. He also noted a separate, existing ladder-truck steering issue within the department; firefighters and the city have short-term plans and a replacement apparatus is expected in the coming year. Traffic consultant from VHB reported the updated trip-generation analysis and management plan for special events (valet, shuttle, site managers), concluding that the proposal would not materially worsen intersection operations at nearby Thames Street and that event peaks would be comparable to or lower than existing peak activity on the site’s current uses.

Board action and next steps: Planning Board members approved routine items, accepted several expert exhibits into the record, and voted to continue both the north- and south-parcel applications to the board’s May 12 meeting to allow staff and the applicants to finalize conditions and outstanding technical items. The board’s roll-call and voice actions recorded the minutes approval earlier in the meeting and the continuance vote later in the session.

What remains: technical items still to be finalized include formal DEM approvals for soil management and ELUR documentation, final CRMC/shoreline permits as applicable, detailed stormwater and construction phasing plans, the final lighting and exhibit numbering, and the city engineer’s review of finished pavement and shared-street materials for Waite’s Wharf. The Planning Board indicated it will review revised plans and draft permit conditions at the May session before making a decision on the special-use permits and development-plan approvals.