Newport Planning Board Meeting - September 8, 2025: 525 Broadway Development Approved with Conditions
Newport Planning Board Meeting - September 8, 2025
The Newport Planning Board met on September 8, 2025, at 6:30 PM in Council Chambers, 43 Broadway, Newport, RI. The board voted to approve the Unified Development Review for 525 Broadway, a 38-unit workforce housing project, subject to several conditions. The meeting also included continuations for two other applications, updates on the Comprehensive Plan, and liaison reports.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes: The board unanimously approved the August 4, 2025 meeting minutes.
- Reordering of Agenda: A motion to move Communications after Business items was approved unanimously.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Public Comments on 525 Broadway: Several residents spoke in opposition, citing traffic safety, insufficient parking, and incompatibility with neighborhood character. Speakers included Richard Gilman (1 Roland Road), Joshua Gootman (90 Bliss Road), Paul Donovan (530 Broadway), Jennifer Churchill (Admiral Kalbfus Road), Dana Sylvia (522 Broadway), Sue Pashko (27 Hoppin Road), and Heather Holstrout (9 Collins Terrace). Concerns focused on dangerous left turns, congestion at One Mile Corner, and the impracticality of off-site parking at Cranston Calvert School. Paul Donovan urged scaling the project back to 20 units.
- Applicant's Rebuttal: Attorney Matt Leys summarized the project’s benefits, emphasizing workforce housing, multimodal transit access, and compliance with the Comprehensive Plan. He argued that traffic and parking concerns were overblown, citing data from the traffic expert and experience at Cranston Calvert.
Discussion Items
- 525 Broadway (Unified Development Review): The applicant requested a Category 1 Special Use Permit for multifamily dwellings in R-10 zone, along with six dimensional variances for density (38 units vs. 13 allowed), parking (41 spaces vs. 76 required), building height (33 ft vs. 30 ft), lot coverage (24.7% vs. 20%), parking location, and driveway width (17 ft vs. 24 ft). The board deliberated on each variance and the special use permit, then moved to Development Plan Review, discussing Comprehensive Plan goals and conditions.
- 173-175 Coggeshall Avenue (Minor Subdivision): Continued to October 6, 2025, at the applicant's request.
- The Treadway Hotel (49 America’s Cup Avenue): Continued to October 6, 2025.
- Comprehensive Plan Update: City Planner Rebecca provided a timeline (September 2025 to September 2026) and requested board member volunteers for the advisory committee. Consultant visits are scheduled for October, winter, and May.
- State Enabling Legislation Amendments: Staff highlighted changes to minor subdivision definitions (effective June 2025) that allow creation of new undersized lots under certain conditions without zoning relief.
Key Outcomes
- Variances (525 Broadway): Approved (motion passed; one opposing vote recorded). Conditions include: (1) 12-month minimum leases and prohibition on subleasing; (2) at least five deeded guest parking spaces at the abutting church lot; (3) five guest parking spaces at Cranston Calvert School; (4) reasonable efforts to obtain additional parking from Middletown on the portion of the lot in that town; (5) reasonable efforts to work with RIPTA for bus shelters at applicant's cost; (6) provision of EV parking options on site; (7) compliance with all TRC recommendations in the August 13, 2025 memo.
- Special Use Permit (Category 1): Approved, contingent on final Development Plan Review.
- Development Plan Review (Preliminary): Approved with the above conditions, contingent on TRC and staff final approval. The board found the project meets Comprehensive Plan goals for workforce housing, multimodal transportation, and environmental sustainability.
- Other Actions: Both 173-175 Coggeshall and Treadway Hotel were continued to the October 6, 2025 meeting. Liaison reports were received from the Waterfront Commission and Tree and Open Space Commission. The meeting adjourned at approximately 10:14 PM.
Meeting Transcript
The time is 6 30. I'd like to call the planning board into order. Mr. Secretary, if you'd like to take a roll call. Sure. Kevin Mishad. Frederick Huntsbury. Present. Margaret Peloskey is absent. Richard Cromwell's here. Paul McGreevy. Patricia Antonelli. Yeah. Jared Pimatel. Here. Jeff Brooks. Here. And Teresa Stokes. Yeah. You have a quorum. Thank you. Can I have approval of the August 4th meeting minutes? Second. It's moved and second. Is there any discussion? All is in favor say aye. Aye. The ayes have it. Staff asked that we see if we can move communications to after the Broadway application just to kind of move things along. And I also want to make note in case anyone's in the audience that the um the subdivision application for COGShell has asked to uh continue to the next meeting to the October meeting in case anybody's here explicitly for that. Um may I have a motion to um move communications to after business. So moved. Second. It's move and second. Any discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Yeah, I have it. Um all right. Uh next on to business. Uh we are continuing the public hearing that was open at the last meeting for the unified development plan review of uh and preliminary plan application for 525 Broadway Texas or Platte 6 lot one. Mr. Chin. Yes. I'd like to state for the record that I had reviewed all the materials and feel confident to move forward with this. Thank you very much, Ms. Stokes. I'm so sorry. Could you speak into the mic and just repeat that, please? I'd just like to place into the record that I have reviewed all the materials from the last meeting and feel confident to move forward at this.
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