Council advances multiple short-term zoning fixes: deck limits, substandard-lot rules, temporary use permits and board composition

The Newport City Council held a public hearing and advanced a package of short-term zoning amendments intended to clarify code language and address recurring neighborhood concerns about rooftop decks, substandard lots, temporary uses and procedural matters.

Zoning officer Nick Armour explained the amendments fall into five topic areas: deck dimensional standards, substandard-lot treatment, Zoning Board of Review membership, updated application fees, and a new temporary use permit chapter. Armour said the package does not rezone any properties or change density limits; rather it provides clearer dimensional and procedural rules.

Decks: The council reviewed proposed dimensional limits for elevated residential decks. Under the draft language, first-floor (ground-level) decks would have no new size limits beyond existing lot-coverage and setback rules; second-floor decks (approximately 5–15 feet above grade) would be limited to about 100 square feet unless a variance were granted; third-floor decks (about 15–25 feet above grade) would be more tightly limited (approximately 30 square feet) and generally required to be inset from building edges. The intent, Armour said, is to reduce noise/privacy impacts from large elevated decks.

Substandard lots: State law changes prompted a city proposal to add R-4 and R-6 district chapters to create intermediate setback standards for properties smaller than the R-10 minimum. Armour said the state now requires cities to apply lower-district setbacks for undersized lots, which has in practice forced many R-10 lots into R-3 standards; the new R-4/R-6 interim chapters are intended as a locally tailored approach to avoid abrupt drops to very narrow setbacks.

Temporary use permits: The council considered a new chapter to allow temporary uses or events longer than the existing two-week special-event window but no longer than six months. Armour said temporary use permits would be reviewed by zoning staff, referred to the Zoning Board when necessary, and ultimately be subject to council approval; the chapter would also allow administrative approvals for specified short-term uses (temporary mobile homes after catastrophic damage, or temporary on-site storage containers) with time limits.

Zoning Board composition and fees: The council heard a proposal to allow up to four alternate members on the Zoning Board of Review (state law permits expansion of alternates). Staff also proposed increases to application fees, which had not been updated in many years; the fee schedule increases were framed as aligning applicant fees with staff review time and comparable communities.

Public comment included homeowners concerned about density, watershed protection and loss of green space, and neighbors who supported clear limits on elevated decks to protect privacy. Several speakers asked that deck limits not be applied retroactively to pending applications; the solicitor and staff explained vested-permit principles apply to applications filed before code changes take effect.

Councilors voted on first readings for the various ordinance sections (17.04 general provisions for decks; supporting district chapter references; substandard-lot changes; Zoning Board composition; and the temporary-use chapter). Staff will return with finalized text at second reading and with fee-schedule details.

The council emphasized that these are targeted, short-term fixes rather than a rezoning of neighborhoods, and that any future rezoning or mapping changes would require separate public notice and hearings.