Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Zoning Amendment 02 21 topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Planning subcommittee pauses 02/21 amendment, schedules workshops and aims to reconvene July 15
Summary
The Newburyport planning and development subcommittee agreed April 28 to pause work on zoning amendment 02/21, hold a five-part workshop series with experts and community members, and keep the joint public hearing open with a target return date of July 15; the committee also recommended receiving and filing ordinance 02/18.
Ben Harmon, chair of the planning and development subcommittee of the Newburyport City Council, opened the committee’s April 28 meeting by saying the group would pause immediate action on zoning amendment 02/21 and run a set of public workshops to refine the proposal before returning to a joint public hearing on July 15.
“Themes that we'd like to work through in the workshops include level setting on the housing and economic needs of Newburyport, and also understanding the profitability concerns of home builders,” Harmon said, laying out a five-workshop sequence that will cover dimensional requirements, floor-area-ratio tools, permitting paths (as‑of‑right versus special permit), potential district boundaries, and drafting a revised zoning amendment.
A committee member who sponsored ordinance 02/18 told the panel that 02/18 should be received and filed by the full council because it overlaps and risks confusion with the more substantial 02/21 measure. The committee subsequently voted to recommend that the full council receive and file ordinance 02/18.
Another sponsoring committee member expressed support for the slower, workshop-based approach but emphasized neighborhood urgency, saying residents have seen substantial change in recent years: “We have lost nearly a dozen of our precious midcentury and most of our modest homes over these last several years,” the committee member said, arguing the work must protect scale and neighborhood character as it proceeds.
During public comment, resident Leila Wright of 55 Reservation Terrace thanked the committee for pausing and encouraged broad community participation in the planned workshops.
On procedural motions, the subcommittee voted to close the committee’s administrative public hearing related to 02/18 and to extend the joint public hearing on amendment 02/21 so that the workshop series can proceed; both motions carried by roll call. Committee members said they will invite planning board members, builders’ representatives and other local experts to participate in the workshop series.
The committee’s next major milestone is the planned joint public hearing on July 15, when members expect to consider a revised draft informed by the workshops and public input.
