Hearing on Protective Club addition continued after parking, noise and historic-concerns surface

The Newport Zoning Board of Review on Nov. 24 continued a contested application from 594/596 Thames Street LLC seeking variances to add a two-story rear addition to the Protective Club and create a one-bedroom dwelling.

Attorney J. Russell Jackson, representing the applicant, told the board the application had been corrected since it was advertised: a transposed lot size changed the lot-coverage request from 64% to 60%, and a revised parking calculation reduced the requested parking variance from seven spaces to six. "When you plug in the correct land area on that calculation, you end up with an ask of 60% lot coverage, not 64% coverage," Jackson said.

Owner Sebastian Frisia and designer Chris Fagan testified the addition is intended to expand indoor service and provide a small, one-bedroom unit above the addition. Frisia described recent investment and community programming at the club: "We restored the bar, the floors, kept the original ceilings," he said, adding that the club runs charitable events and neighborhood programs.

But neighbors and property owners pressed the board on parking, sound and neighborhood character. Tony LaRusso, who said he owns Wellington Plaza adjacent to the site, called the club a neighborhood asset and said most patrons walk: "There aren't people that are coming in from out of town... This is a neighborhood bar that people are walking to," LaRusso said. Other nearby residents, including Linda Stevenson and Gail Holmes, said the neighborhood is dense and argued even a one-car increase would worsen an existing shortage. Holmes, an acoustics engineer, warned that large glazed openings could allow amplified sound to propagate into surrounding blocks: "Glass doesn't have that property," she said, arguing the design's large window areas would not be inherently soundproof.

James Houle, the applicant's real-estate expert, told the board the property and building have unique constraints — a small lot and long building that limit usable backyard space — and described the reduced deck and modest increases in massing as "de minimis." He estimated the addition would add capacity for roughly 25 to 30 people to the new service area.

Board members and staff explored possible mitigation for parking. Staff and counsel discussed options including leasing off-site spaces or creating a stacked driveway at the property edge; staff said adding stacked on-site parking would require a separate advertised variance and couldn't be resolved immediately. Jackson said his clients would prepare an amended site plan proposing stacked parking but would need time to re-advertise.

The board voted to continue the petition to the Jan. 26, 2026 meeting to allow the applicant to file an amended application and for staff to re-advertise. Chair (name on record) closed testimony for the night and said the board wanted specific plans showing any proposed changes to egress, soundproofing and parking before final deliberation.

Next steps: the applicant will submit amended plans addressing parking and the board will rehear the item at its Jan. 26, 2026 meeting.