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Newport council adopts zoning change to allow medium-density multifamily on three tax lots
Summary
The Newport City Council voted to amend the comprehensive plan and zoning maps to re-designate about 1.48 acres from low/medium-density single-family to medium-density multifamily (R‑3), a move applicants and staff say will enable at least one fourplex and add high-density acreage to the neighborhood.
The Newport City Council voted unanimously to adopt Ordinance 2025-01, amending the city comprehensive plan map from low-density residential to high-density residential and changing zoning from R‑1/R‑2 to R‑3 for real property identified as tax lots 00500 and 00501 on tax map 11‑11‑05‑DA and tax lot 01700 on tax map 11‑11‑04‑CC.
Derek Tokos, the city’s Community Development Director, told the council the applicant owns about 1.48 acres that abuts nearly 50 acres already zoned R‑3 and that utilities and neighborhood context support the change. "The materials I provided demonstrate, I think with the findings that are included in the ordinance, that they've met the burden and that this request should be approved," Tokos said.
The planning commission had recommended approval after a public hearing. Tokos said the site’s terrain and utility-extension needs make a higher unit count more likely to make a project financially viable; the applicants have discussed at least one proposed fourplex. He also said the site will connect to Seventh Street, a neighborhood collector sized to handle modest additional traffic and included that the city’s Safe Routes project under design should improve pedestrian and bicycle crossings at the intersection.
Councillor Hall asked staff to confirm existing surface types and whether the proposal was strictly limited to four units; Tokos answered the final unit count would depend on layout and utility solutions. No members of the public testified during the hearing.
A voice vote was followed by a roll call: Councilor Eamonn, Councilor Romagu, Mayor Kaplan, Councilor Hall, Councilor Parker and Councilor Jacoby voted aye; Councilor Hickman was excused. The motion carried and the ordinance was adopted.
The ordinance changes the comprehensive plan designation and zoning for the listed tax lots from single‑family residential classifications to R‑3 (medium‑density multifamily), allowing a broader range of housing types pending site‑level permitting and design review. Staff noted the change adds scarce high‑density acreage in the city’s housing inventory and does not require immediate utility upsizing or a transportation reclassification under the statewide transportation planning rule due to the limited projected traffic impact.
Council minutes show no additional conditions attached to approval; future site‑level development permits will need to address final unit counts, utility extensions, grading and site design.
