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Newport staff and consultants outline broad zoning changes to match state-approved housing plan
Summary
City staff and consultant Libra presented a package of immediate and longer-term zoning changes aimed at implementing Newport’s state‑approved housing chapter, encouraging “missing‑middle” housing, and protecting historic character while responding to recent state law changes.
City planning staff and consultants on Wednesday outlined a multi-part zoning package intended to implement Newport’s recently state‑approved housing chapter and to respond to several state law changes that have altered how the city can regulate development.
Peter Friedrichs, a planner with consultant firm Libra, told the Newport City Council and planning board that the package is divided into three categories: immediate changes required by state law, core zoning reforms to support more year‑round and workforce housing, and longer‑term code updates that might carry unintended consequences if enacted quickly. "The first is immediate changes, and that comes as a result of the, extensive amendments the state legislature has made to the zoning enabling acts and other land use enabling law," Friedrichs said.
The core reforms target what Friedrichs and staff described as the "missing middle": 2‑ and 3‑family homes, townhouses and small multifamily buildings aimed at year‑round households and working families. Friedrichs said the proposals would allow more two‑ and three‑family options in many residential areas, permit townhouses as single‑parcel, single‑owner attached units, and consider regulated single‑room occupancies (SROs) and dormitory designs for institutional operators to relieve pressure on the rental market. "We see opportunity really in the 2 to 3 family house size," Friedrichs said.
Friedrichs and staff emphasized that many proposals would be conditional or tied to additional requirements. Examples discussed included requiring a year‑round occupant in at least one unit of a converted two‑ or three‑family house and tying additional units to energy‑efficiency upgrades. "If we are opening up this opportunity, it should be done in a way that serves the city's needs particularly for year round residents, and not just opening the floodgates," Friedrichs said.
The packet also includes proposals to limit inappropriate industrial uses in waterfront or business zones (for example, large wholesale fuel storage), and to tweak parking minimums — allowing shared parking, valet, motorcycle and bicycle parking, and reductions near transit — to reduce surface parking that undermines pedestrian character.
Planning staff said the package balances competing goals: expanding housing supply for the local workforce while preserving Newport’s architecture and neighborhood character. The immediate state‑driven changes will be advertised and brought forward first; staff said they expect to pause and monitor further state action before advancing the broader housing‑chapter recommendations and mapping any new zone designations.
No formal votes were taken at the workshop. Councilors and board members asked staff and consultants for further details on infrastructure capacity (stormwater was cited as the primary concern), enforcement, and how proposed conditional rules would be implemented and mapped in the future. Housing planner Elijah Mensah was introduced as the staff member tracking ADUs and unit counts.
The presentation and staff comments set the framework for a multi‑year process of code edits, public outreach and a 2027 comprehensive plan update that staff said will include a future‑land‑use map that could be used to formally rezone pockets of the city if the council chooses to do so.
