Planning Board continues Waite's Wharf hotel after testimony on sewer, stormwater, remediation and traffic

The City of Newport Planning Board on Monday continued review of the Waite's Wharf hotel and associated multifamily proposal to its May 12 meeting after hearing multi-hour testimony from the applicant's engineer, architect, environmental consultant, fire-safety consultant and traffic engineer.

The continuation followed detailed testimony about amended plans for two parcels at the end of Waite's Wharf that reduce hotel room counts, re-locate a south residential building away from an existing sewer easement, and add stormwater treatment and site remediation measures. Board members voted to keep the application on the record and asked the applicant to supply copies of revised plans and the newly submitted lighting exhibit.

Why it matters: The property sits in Newport's Waterfront Business zoning district and abuts public harbor walk and marina space. The project proposes a mix of hotel, event/banquet, retail, marina facilities and 14 residential units. Testimony touched on engineering changes that aim to fix existing sewer configuration, treat a substantially larger share of impervious runoff than required, and complete remediation work under Rhode Island DEM oversight. Traffic witnesses said the proposal would not worsen roadway operations in the immediate study area during peak hours; fire-safety witnesses described added hydrants and circulation changes that will improve apparatus access.

Project revisions and engineering testimony

K. Russell Jackson, attorney for the applicant, introduced witnesses and explained the main change to plans: the south residential building was moved back along the Waite's Wharf right-of-way to avoid a sewer easement that runs diagonally across the site. "During the TRC process...the utilities department and the city engineer expressed some concern because the proposed location of that residential building encroached on an existing sewer easement," Jackson told the board.

Joe Mallow, the project's civil engineer, described the sewer-line work and other site changes in technical terms. "The biggest engineering component was just the sewer easement," Mallow said. He testified the easement alignment was revised to a more direct north–south run, an existing manhole was…