NEWPORT – The public and City Council will get a first look at the Detailed Master Plan for Downtown Newport at Monday night’s Council meeting when consultants and the Newport Downtown Development team present the recommendations for everything from meeting future housing needs to expanding business development and more.
“This report builds on a number of reports that have been created over the last 15 years in Newport,” said NDD Executive Director Rick Ufford-Chase, who is a member of the Council. The plan was completed by Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. (VHB) of Burlington.
He said the report takes a “60,000-foot view of what Newport’s development should look like,” but also makes specific recommendations for site-by-site potential projects. He said that “granular” approach will enable the city to move forward on needed projects, including working with developers and seeking funding for public infrastructure needs.
Assuming the Council gives its general approval of the near-final draft at Monday’s meeting, a 10-day public comment period will begin. NDD will post the report on its website and distribute print materials featuring a QR code, making it easy for people to access the plan digitally and submit comments.
In addition, a public forum is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 25, at 6 p.m. at the Goodrich Memorial Library on Main Street. Anyone working or living in Newport is invited to weigh in, as are residents of nearby communities.
“We would be thrilled if many dozens of people wanted to engage in this report and give us their ideas and thoughts,” Ufford-Chase said. “We really are opening this up for a deep dive.”
Newport Mayor Linda Joy Sullivan said she kept the agenda for Monday night’s meeting light to allow more time for reporting on the plan and public comment.
“We rely on tourism, but we also need places for people to work and live,” she said. The question she hopes the plan answers is, “How do we make Newport that go-to city as opposed to that drive-through city?”
Specifics in the plan are not being released until the Council meeting. But Ufford-Chase said for example it recommends that Newport’s development must be built around mixed income residential living units throughout the downtown, with about 400 new units needed.
In addition, the report makes recommendations for development of 11 specific sites, including the vacant, fenced lot on Main Street.
The Mayor said she and the Council are looking forward to hearing the full report on the findings and recommendations. VHB will appear via video link at the Monday meeting.
“When the group that we partnered with (VHB) went in, they actually looked at housing needs and revenue needs, and which buildings could be shifted around cost effectively to make this a more vibrant city,” she said.
VHB examined potential demographics, identified areas could potentially be part of a tax increment financing district, transportation needs, possible sites for hotels, and more, Sullivan said.
In an NDD Facebook posting, Ufford-Chase and Dave Laforce, chair of the NDD’s Economic Task Force, urged the public to get involved and expressed confidence the master plan would provide concrete proposals for moving the city forward.
“Most of us would agree that Newport has been kind of consulted to death over the past 15 years,” Laforce said in the posting. “We have nearly 20 reports and studies that say Newport is a beautiful city with great potential.”
Ufford-Chase added that the new master plan will “create a roadmap to what it will take to make our downtown a vibrant place again.”
