Newport council continues City Center comprehensive-plan hearing to Sept. 2

The Newport City Council on Aug. 18 opened a public hearing on Ordinance 2025-04, a set of amendments to the Newport Comprehensive Plan intended to implement the City Center revitalization planning effort, then voted to continue the hearing to 6 p.m. on Sept. 2 so council members who were absent could review the record and take part.

Community Development Director Derek Tokos told the council the package includes changes to the Peninsula design element and the transportation element of the comprehensive plan and implements a multi-part City Center plan. “What’s before you is a package of amendments to the comprehensive plan specifically,” Tokos said, describing nine technical memos produced during the planning process and noting a form-based code will be brought forward later to translate the policies into zoning standards.

The amendments pair policy direction with short-term activations, business incentive ideas and a recommendation that the council pursue a “couplet” for traffic on U.S. 101 and Ninth Street. Tokos said the couplet option — a short one-way pair of streets — was selected for further design and that major transportation changes are likely seven to 10 years away. He also said the urban renewal district created for downtown has a $40 million maximum indebtedness, with about $35 million still available.

Dustin Capri, chair of the citizen advisory committee that reviewed the plan, urged the council to press forward. “For me as the committee chair, that made the decision really clear of, yeah, we want to go after this,” Capri said, citing examples of similar downtown streetscape improvements that spurred private reinvestment.

Tokos said the planning effort involved multiple rounds of public outreach — roughly 380 people provided feedback overall and 50 Spanish-language surveys were completed — and emphasized the work is intended to encourage mixed-use, walkable development and more housing in the commercial core.

Mayor Kaplan opened the hearing for testimony and, after public comment, Councilor Heaman moved and Councilor Hickman seconded a motion to continue the hearing to Sept. 2. The council voted in favor and the motion carried.

The next hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Sept. 2, when the council expects to take additional public testimony and further discuss a form-based code and implementation steps.