Broad support for master plan: Main Street lot to host housing, retail, parking

NEWPORT –– The City Council voted Monday night to approve the distribution of a proposed master plan offering suggestions for supporting existing businesses and attracting new employers to the city, increasing affordable housing for a growing workforce, and more to the public for community input. 

Among the proposals in the 82-page report presented to the Council and public at a meeting at the Gateway Center, the plan suggests building a seven-story parking structure on the vacant, fenced lot on Main Street with space for 265 vehicles, as well as residential units; a pharmacy, housing and parking at the former Family Dollar location; a hotel near the Eastside Restaurant, and retail and housing for vacant or underutilized downtown locations.

Created by the Burlington-based VHB in partnership with the Newport Downtown Development and city staff, the plan notes that Newport’s population – now about 4,500 – has experienced an 11 percent decrease since 2000. The report suggests ways to draw people to Newport, boost the city’s economy and support a stronger workforce.

“Parking is always envisioned as recessed and not dominating the frontage of buildings or the experience of downtown streets, particularly Main Street, and the possibility for shared or reduced off-street parking is suggested wherever practicable to allow for valuable downtown physical space to be devoted to people,” the report stated.

The importance of public infrastructure is also highlighted.

“Potential infrastructure or community investments include foundation pilings on the waterfront, brownfield remediation, public parking, street and intersection redesigns, wastewater and water infrastructure, streetscape improvements and a public recreation facility,” according to the report.

“The resources needed to maintain or improve that public realm likely can’t be met through local capital investments alone, and strategic private investments, as well as other funding tools, whether grants or financing tools like Tax Increment Financing [TIF], are critical to advancing this Plan.”

In conversations with residents, advocates and others, the report noted the community’s hope for more opportunities for children and teens, recreational and artistic opportunities, and senior housing. Topping the list, however, was a desire for more people visiting, working, living and playing in downtown Newport.

NDD has posted the report on its website and will distribute print materials featuring a QR code, making it easy for people to access the plan digitally and submit comments.

Among the specific findings and recommendations:

Housing: While the state of Vermont gained housing from 2010 to 2020, Newport’s housing stock increases didn’t keep pace with the statewide numbers. Housing prices are rising, demand is outstripping supply, and the types of needed housing aren’t available.

Among the recommendations, “encouraging the most intensive housing growth downtown [about 410 new units], where it’s most fitting because of its proximity to jobs and local businesses, there is existing infrastructure in place, because building on what has been an historic pattern of denser multi-family housing helps to foster a more sustainable, more active, and less auto-dependent Newport.”

The median household income in the city is $52,283, lower than the state ($67,674) and the county ($58,037) medians. “As of 2022, there were 2,383 housing units in Newport City … up slightly from 2,342 in 2000. Of these, approximately 40% are renter occupied.”

“Newport has seen its housing prices rise faster than the country or the state, while housing stock has not substantially risen, fueling both a supply and demand problem with implications for job creation, commuting patterns, equity, and the vitality of Newport’s downtown.”

Specific recommendations include increasing senior housing; allowing additional density outside the downtown (permitting duplex construction in areas zoned for single-family housing, for example; preserving existing housing stock; establishing a municipal housing trust to support new housing development; exploring new financing tools such as a TIF district, and more.

Development sites: The report looked at 12 priority sites and an additional five future planning areas. One of the priority sites is the now-vacant former Family Dollar store at 266 Main Street. “The conceptual site plan depicts a three-story building at the street, with 40 residential units, active ground floor uses, parking to the rear and shared common space.”

Also recommended are options for repurposing the Superior and County Courthouse properties, as well as the town office building – preserving the historic structures but potentially moving municipal offices to a courthouse, and adding residential and parking structures to the various sites.

For the vacant, fenced lot on Main Street, the plan “envisions a return to active uses throughout the first floor of the building for the length of the block along Main Street, structured parking to the rear, nearly 130,000 square feet of developed space, and 98 units of housing.”

Significant changes are also proposed for Waterfront Plaza, including housing and added marina space. “The Master Plan shows other sites where the current uses housed at Waterfront Plaza could relocate and be integrated into the fabric of the downtown.”

Other sites include a potential hotel at 47 Landing Street, development along Coventry Street, and more.

Site plan illustrations are included in the report, along with specifics.

Transportation changes are also suggested to ease access in and through the city and accommodate a 10 percent traffic increase. Improvements are suggested for the east-side entrance to the city (Main and Coventry streets); smaller downtown streets accessing areas targeted for expansion; bike and pedestrian routes; connections for people using the local airport; and more.

The plan suggests that water and wastewater capacity be evaluated in light of the proposed development.

“Many federal, regional, and state funding sources are available to assist with implementing the recommendations identified in this Master Plan,” the report states. “Grants, loans, tax credits, Tax Increment Finance Districts, and local financial tools can each play valuable roles in helping to encourage strategic investment in Newport’s downtown.”

NDD has launched a 10-day public comment period on the recommendations and will hold a public forum on Nov. 25 at 6 p.m. at the Goodrich Memorial Library on Main Street.