Good evening, everyone.

It's um 6 30, so I'm gonna call this meeting to order.

There you go.

Uh it actually may technically be 6 31.

Does anyone want to correct the number?

Um we have an agenda before us here.

Uh Mr.

Secretary, would you like to call the roll?

Um Mark Polski.

Here.

Richard Cromwell.

Here.

Here.

Stokes.

Here's uh breathing here.

Yeah.

Michelle here and John.

Not present.

Okay.

Thank you.

Next on our agenda is to approve the meeting minutes from our April 6th meeting.

Any questions or comments about this?

I could refuse myself from that.

Thanks, Kevin.

Appreciate it.

Everyone, please make sure your mics are on and close to your vocal mouth.

Thank you.

As opposed to our non-vocal mouth.

Okay.

Any questions, comments about the minutes.

May I have a motion to approve the minutes?

So moved.

Second.

Thank you.

Any discussion?

All right.

All in favor?

Moving on.

Any opposed?

Okay.

We have a unanimous approval of the minutes.

Now the next order of business is communications.

Staff, do we normally take comments from the public when we're talking about communications?

So in the past, uh for planning board things that have been publicly advertised, which is if there was business bold public hearing that has a public comment period built into it.

The nature of the comprehensive plan is that it's a community and resident informed plan.

So it's at the chair's discretion.

If after the consultant presentation you would like to take a comment from members of the public.

Okay, then we will if we have um if we have members of the public who care to speak after uh we have received these communications.

All right, item one, rescheduling the July planning board meeting from July 13th to 20th.

And we're doing that remind me again why we're doing that.

So uh scheduling comprehensive plan consultant visits is not for the week.

Yeah.

And uh July is tricky because of the 4th of July.

Not that anyone would want to be anywhere but Newport for the 4th of July.

Um but in this case we are realigning the planning board schedule with interfaces visit schedule to make sure that everyone gets the full exposure to the consultants while they are here, and we apologize for the uh the shift of that.

We know it's it's a lot to ask you to change your calendar, so okay.

Um members, do you have any problem with making that change?

I just want uh I don't have a problem, but uh how come we don't have to vote on this one, but we had to vote on the one from last meeting.

So a little different.

So last month you actually didn't have to vote staff after consulting with the solicitors for the city.

Since this is a locally set calendar, it's not a voting matter, so it's not um charged by the Rhode Island General Law.

Okay, all right, then we will reset the meeting to July 20th.

Okay, and now we'll moving on to our comprehensive plan update uh with a presentation.

Thanks, Mindy.

Hello, everybody.

Um, it's nice to be in a room.

I feel like, you know, we've been working together for almost a year now, so it's um nice to see familiar faces and really great to be back in Newport.

So I think you all know me by now, but I'm Mindy Watts with Interface Studio.

We're the lead planners on uh updating your comprehensive plan.

I'm here with my colleague Maria this week, and uh we will be uh facilitating 15 focus groups, briefing you all, briefing city council, touring the harbor with the Harbor Master, and having our first in-person meeting with the advisory committee that has just been seated.

So it's an action packed week, and we're grateful for everybody who's made time in their schedule to sit in on some of those conversations.

We're grateful to staff for managing the multiple calendar invites, and I think it's gonna be a really fruitful week.

Um so we submitted a pretty lengthy deck to you all for um today's meeting.

My goal is to talk you through the first two-thirds of it, and then it's choose your own adventure at the end.

So you can tell me how much what your appetite is to continue.

Um so uh I would like to um brief you on three elements that were not included in the presentation uh that staff provided on your at your April meeting.

Um so we'll just give you sort of the high level uh takeaways and um from our the last three elements in our analysis of existing conditions.

Um the real meat of the presentation today though is to give you a digest of the community input to date.

So um we've concluded the survey, we are um we have made sense of that information and the community's priorities, and we've also layered in um uh input from staff interviews as well as um some of the the community feedback we got at the December winter workshop.

So that's really the the main um exciting kind of uh last piece of analysis that we needed to pivot from understanding where Newport has been and where it is today to starting to look forward with a draft vision statement and and goals that will ultimately comprise um the the framework for your comprehensive plan update.

So I have a quick question here on input uh to you and staff.

Is there uh a web page where members of the community can still provide input and how long will that be open?

So the survey link is actually still open.

Okay.

And then in terms of alternative forms of submitting input, I don't know if we have one designed yet, but that doesn't mean there can't be one designed.

Yeah, I think that's right.

Um, so we there's a brand new web page um on the oh sorry, there's a brand new web page on the Engage HQ platform that the city has just adopted.

So it's our new like landing page for all things comprehensive plan update.

So um I think we could, if it's not there already, we could add a general comment form.

Um, and I think, you know, if you all feel um like it's the right time, we could produce some draft goal statements and invite people's feedback or sort of have an interim touch point.

Our next main public or big public event will be at the end of August.

And so um we'll have uh the focus groups this week.

We'll have a second round of focus groups in July, the third week of July when we're back, and then that next big public open house at the end of August is really pretty close to when we're supposed to be submitting a draft plan.

So if if you all think that we should be creating some additional online opportunities, we'd be happy to think through that.

Okay, so we can be thinking about that.

But the survey link is open in to at least until the end of August or sometime or mid-August or something like that.

Yeah, so we've done the first the digest with um I think it was 860-ish um responses, and then since then maybe another 32 have come in.

I think it are 892 is the number in our um presentation deck, and it might have gone up a couple more.

So people are still engaging with it, and we we won't turn it off until we're done ready.

So great.

And for people who don't do the surveys a lot, that's a huge number of respondents.

We're really pleased with the number of people that wait in.

I'd like to thank Frederick for his hard work as um part of the group, you know, actually canvassing and putting things up.

So we do have a lot.

We're very um happy with that number.

Oh, close to 900 respondents is really impressive.

We were targeting 400 at the outset, and um Frederick helped connect some dots at uh Salve, and so I think that was a really um important effort at there at the end, and and with some of the neighborhood associations as well.

Great.

So thanks, Frederick.

Yeah, okay.

Sorry.

All right.

Um, do I have to point it this way.

There we go.

So I kind of already said this, but we're at a turning point in the process where we are starting to talk about forward-looking vision and goals after, you know, uh eight or ten months of doing our analysis and an early listening.

Um we are on track to come back with a fully illustrated draft plan um in the fall, and uh then it would be ready to work through its review with this body with city council, and the goal is to send a um polished draft to the statewide planning agency um at the beginning of December.

So we are in the home stretch, but there's a lot of important work to um accomplish in the next few months.

Just as a recap, uh the I already said this as well.

So tonight's um presentation will focus on uh filling in the gaps in our analysis of existing conditions uh related to the city services and facilities element, the land use element, and the historic and cultural resources um element.

So you all had in that April 6th deck that I think Trish talked you through, um, kind of a sampling of our analysis work on the other elements.

So we're filling in some gaps with you all tonight and then focusing on the key takeaways from the engagement that have informed a draft vision and some draft goals.

So just a few slides um for each of those three remaining elements.

We'll start with services and facilities.

Um since our last visit here in December, we've had about 30 interviews with uh city staff and uh department heads to wrap our head around capital needs, around how um city operations work, to wrap our head around kind of what's going well and where what um people who are you know doing this work day to day would like the comprehensive plan to include.

Um so it was really uh helpful for us to start to um connect with those um staff members across city government.

Um we had a real sense that there's a they're a collaborative group and um they work really well together.

I think this winter's weather really tested that, and so we were um just inspired that we're so for some of these um overwhelming like large topics like infrastructure and resiliency.

There really is a sense that people are working together, not just within Newport government, but um island wide.

Um we had a sense uh I think this is again maybe on the heels of your big blizzard, but um that the public services department, which is a large, large department, um, is really very much part of the frontline um safety and and response team beyond or in addition to police and fire, and so it was really helpful to get a sense of how they're structured and um what their needs are.

Um then um I think you know we we learned a lot about what's the current status of some of these bigger projects like the police and safety uh complex and um started to talk through some of the additional capital needs we know is a really big deal to get the 98.5 million dollar bond um passed for to fund a lot of projects, but um the need for continued investment in infrastructure is a major finding of our of our work.

Um may I just if you go back to the last chart.

Yes.

Um have you guys uh validated all the dots?

Uh yes, I think so.

Um if if you think that there's an error overall years.

For example, I think you have a state services light blue dot right at the beginning of the causeway over to Gold Island.

Uh-huh.

I'm trying to figure out what that would be when there's a park there.

Um good question.

Yeah.

Well, again, I don't want to get into the all the detail.

Just you might want to just double check.

Okay, we'll do, we'll do.

And but those types of comments are helpful flags for us.

Yeah, but I think Kevin's right.

That probably is the peer.

Okay.

Yeah.

Because there is a little peer jutting out there.

Um, so this map shows the um kind of the key public infrastructure sites that are within the flood zones.

Um, so part of a lot of our conversation with city staff was about um aging infrastructure and also kind of uh planning for for resiliency and preparedness as um sea levels rise as um weather becomes more extreme.

And so I think that um, like I said, this will be a meaty chapter for us to start to understand in a 20-year horizon for that this plan has like what are what does the city need to be planning for from a budgeting perspective and um from a uh you know what core services are we really needing to prepare um and preserve?

And so I think there's been some conversation around a new sustainable funding source to help um build the reserves for for that type of um investment, and I that will be part of the the conversation going forward as well.

And then this last map is of um the the schools and educational facilities we connected with the um superintendent of Newport public schools and got a sense of you know the ways in which um the curriculum at Rogers is really um being innovative and attracting students um and uh from from other municipalities as well with some of their um uh technical programs.

I think we have a conversation that lies ahead of us about changing demographics and um regionalism, it was a part of the last plan, and it's still part of the discussion today.

So that'll be something that we'll be um grappling with um going forward as well.

Would there also be discussion, Mindy, about alternative uses uh or supplemental uses for something like Rogers High School where that was a significant investment and uh other ways we might use it?

Absolutely.

Yeah, I think um the superintendent, I know she's um retiring, but uh she was saying, you know, it was designed to be a community serving facility, and that's really like core to our purpose here, and so I think that's on the table.

I think um, you know, the middle school probably um is worth revisiting as well as we think about if if there were to be regional or regionalism um approach that that facility might um have an you know different uses to serve the city, and so and then we've also heard about um the need for uh recreational facilities and um potential you know shared uses um within the the city and other institutions um in Newport.

And so I think that that's another um piece for this element to to grapple with.

So is the plan gonna sort of make these kind of recommendations or is it just sort of hang out there?

No, our job is to make recommendations.

Um so I think um that'll be the work that we're embarking on.

So right now, the where we are in the process, uh we have a draft vision statement that I'll share with you tonight, and we've drafted some goals, which I think of as like the organizing buckets of ideas that the plan that the actions and policy strategies will um fit within.

So we haven't gotten to that stage yet of saying, you know, this is the this is the recommendation or the proposal for your consideration and city council's consideration that'll be in development this summer.

So the focus groups that we're having this week are a departure point for those ideas.

So we have some that have been, you know, suggested to us or occurring to us, but um at this stage we're really just testing um do we have the vision in the right direction and the goals um suitable to hold to hold those you know various ideas and strategies.

But I think um the purpose of the plan is to make recommendations for policy change and um and investments and um uh actions for the city to take to help achieve the vision and goals, and so um it is part of our work to develop those strategies.

Um, I didn't know if you had another chart on education.

It's a it's a hot subject, obviously, um given also the investment in the system.

And it occurred to me when when I saw the data, which is obviously concerning the down almost 500 kids, right, since 1516 overall.

Do we have stats on what the private schools look like during that same time frame?

In other words, did they absorb some market share?

If I can use that term, right?

Or or is it really just a case of fewer people having kids here in town or sending their kids to schools at all in Newport?

It's a good question.

We haven't looked at that, so we can see if we can um connect with some of the uh leadership.

So we just have that data, and just to validate where our train of thought is going on.

Okay.

That's a great suggestion.

Yes.

The Emmanuel Day School closed during the pandemic.

And it's now the headquarters of the Newport Music.

Not the it's the classical music.

I think it's called the Newport Music Company.

But it's no longer another edit.

Thank you for letting us know.

So for land use, uh I will start with a map that is maybe familiar to you.

This is the version of the land use map, the existing land use map from your 2017 plan.

And so you can see uh it doesn't have a ton of um uh detail, it's rather like large blocks of color, and um so our belief is that it is uh in your interest to have a more nuanced existing land use map so that you can use that as a baseline to measure change and really understand what's the granularity of your neighborhoods and your commercial corridors, and so for example, um that whole big orange area is uh medium density residential.

But if you look, I'm just gonna flip ahead.

Um, if you were to actually like map out by by um number of units, like the single-family houses, the two family houses, the three to five family houses, and then the the larger multifamily properties, you can really get a better sense of like by looking at a map, like what type of neighborhood is this, what's the mix, and you can better measure change going forward.

So we are uh proposing that um this is not the future land use map.

This is just like what's on the ground today, um, that we have a more nuanced category for your residential uh land use classifications.

We've also added some detail to the harbor front.

So it used to be that um there was just waterfront businesses that kind of lumped in a bunch of um uh properties that were commercial or residential, um, and so we've we've teased that out a little bit.

Um, and we added categories for vacant land, um, mixed use and industrial.

And so um it's hard to see on this map, but um, I think this is a more accurate picture of like how your city is structured and how it functions.

Um and so there's a we've worked closely with um city staff to get it right and um to make sure that the number of units makes sense as the way it relates to your zoning code.

Um, and in the waterfront district, we've added maritime commercial, mixed use um and uh oh no, maybe I have that on the next slide.

Sorry, pause that, I'll come back to that.

So we added maritime commercial, we added the mixed use industrial, a navy category, vacant land, parking, cemeteries, and agriculture.

So there's a lot more detail in here, and we also split out what was open space um separate from parks and recreation that are more actively planned open space.

So I think um for people who like to study land use, this should give you a pretty accurate representation of what's on the ground today.

Um and this allows us to do some analysis that helps to just understand like what's the composition of Newport.

And so we can see this is broken out two different ways that the top is um looking at uh the breakdown by the number of parcels and then the bottom is by the the by acreage, and so it's like 87% of your city by number of parcels is residential, but it's 52% of your land area and so forth.

So this just gives us a sense of um uh what's on the ground and um where we might need to uh think about preserving land, for example, for economic development as opposed to um to residential and make sure there's places for people to work.

It's one way of um thinking about what's here and and what we need to retain space for in the limited space that there is.

So this is a zoom in of the um harbor front, and um what we found here is that of the 69 harbor fronting parcels, um 38 percent of them are water-based uses.

So that means that the other uh 62 percent are are not.

So there's 12 percent maritime commercial and 26% maritime mixed use.

And so I think that that's something else that has was a um an imperative that came out in our interviews with the Harbor Master where that this plan has a real opportunity to add some detail and thinking about the relationship of the harbor and newports um history and economy and identity and um tourists tourist destination and really to think about you know how are we using those very valuable very limited pieces of land um along the water uh question what's the differentiation between traditional i'm sorry wait recreation and for example maritime mixed use is there some recreation in that mixed use as well or not um I I guess so I mean I think recruit recreation is parks or um so the maritime mixed use could include a marina that has you know some housing as well as some slips that type of thing so um but the the recreation would be more open space and could we go back to the previous chest I have a question about are can we look at this uh on a comparative basis as a way of understanding density and our current density vis-a-vis other similarly sized towns or New England towns or short some kind of comparative some kind of way of comparing and understanding a baseline of how dense are we today and then proposals that might change or alter or recommend more density how that would affect the baseline.

Yeah I'm I'll have to think through that I mean I think um what this I'm making this up as fast as I can talk so this doesn't um represent units um so I think there would have to be a calculation that's showing what's your um dwelling units per acre um and then I you know we have this data because we've been working here so I think we would have to be pretty strategic to say like what what are some of the cities that we think we'd like to compare ourselves to um and we could put some thought into that and maybe you all have I think we had some conversations at one of my earlier presentations about what are some of our peer cities.

And so um if we are able to access either from their comprehensive plans or from open source data their land use we could probably come up with some sort of calculation but um we don't necessarily have that like offhand.

So uh we have been working as staff on providing that looking at our existing conditions and sort of being able to zoom in on a block by block basis and seeing what is that density and what is if we love this street what does that number translate to it's not ready for prime time yet but we're still working on that we we're doing that in house okay so I've just done that Margaret yeah I see what you're doing what you're asking for is that's just looking at what we are at various scales.

You want to see if Newport compared to City A or City B is it is it so that we can look at A and say well we don't want to be like A.

If we went to a higher density got like A in a neighborhood or even city wide is that the I think that's really two things like having a baseline of how dense we are right now so that then as we change or as we make recommendations and are evaluating recommendations how does that affect density and then that other question is well let's look at other cities that are growing in smart intelligent ways that have some common features and how dense are they?

Yeah.

Boston has one right now that's fabulous and you could that's what we looked at when we were thinking about creating this and it allows you to zoom in and see very accurately what the density is and it's a good example of a city that everybody thinks of as built out that is actually growing quite a bit in housing numbers so okay.

Oh Frederick shared with me the um comprehensive plan for Annapolis.

And I I had a business, I grew up down there, so I was very familiar with the city and I it's a terrific plan.

They really did a nice job.

And and I think there's a lot of parallels between Annapolis and you know, historic, as a university, has as military, has residential, maritime.

You know, it has all those different formulas going on.

And they their plan is well thought out.

And it should be, you know, I it should be a read for all of us.

Um to to you, you know, to see how they've done it.

Um when you're talking about um, you know, I think Margaret speaks right to what you're saying, you know, how how is other cities done it?

And um I think this is uh it would be a good read, good comparison.

I think so.

Yeah, and and just uh before we move on, we can also rest assured that our consultant team um has an extensive portfolio of comprehensive plans, which is great.

Uh so if anyone wants to check out interfaces, other work and comprehensive planning, they do have a website, which is one of the many reasons we selected them.

Our escape by state comprehensive plan laws, pretty much the same, so that we're looking at Maryland.

Um, I would say Rhode Islands are like on steroids, so um they're much more um detailed than um other places.

You know, there there's often like a similar list of plan elements that are required, but I think that there's a lot more specificity in terms of what statewide planning is looking for.

So we did do one for North Kingstown.

It was uh I think in 2017 to 2019 is when we uh did that plan.

That's the one prior comp plan our office has done in Rhode Island.

Um I think I guess my just to kind of round out this conversation around density.

Are you thinking that it would I'm imagining it and I'm thinking it would be um maybe by district because I think it at at the citywide scale it would be a little bit more like um less useful, but perhaps if to look at it by parts of the city might be um what's most appropriate.

Yeah.

Makes sense.

Anyone else have any other thoughts on this subject?

Okay, okay, thanks.

Um let's see.

So uh we just had a our first housing or our first focus group was just um a couple hours ago and it focused on housing needs, and um there was some good discussion about this map, which uh shows what we were calling uh developable developable land, um, which is really limited uh here in Newport, as you know.

And I think the the sense was that actually a lot of the parcels on this map are either wetlands or um spoken for by the housing authority are really um actually like probably not on the table, and so I think um it may actually be that there's less than three percent of the land that's uh available for uh redevelopment, and so there was uh a sense that we should revise this map for to make it more about suitability for development, not just um development opportunity.

Um how did you define make it?

I mean, what gets into the little purple boxes and what doesn't?

So uh we looked at um land that is not being like actively used.

So if it's um that was the what we would call vacant if there's uh if we can look at it and see that um you know there's uh not an active use here, and then we also looked at um parking that is solely parking, so not that is an accessory use to a business or something like that, as just to understand like could there be a higher and better use to a surface parking lot?

So it's parking in here.

Yes.

Anecdotally, I uh that does not seem like that stuff there.

Okay, okay, I mean there's I can't quite picture it, but there's a I think it was a school that was torn down on Harrison years ago, and they're building their building there currently.

Well, it's still at the moment I don't know what the day is.

That is clearly as of today, they can I know they're doing some development.

And just as I go around town, I just see well that's more opportunities something and and I see no purple in the center of town.

Well, is there a philosophical argument here about even if there are buildings?

Are we looking at them and saying and this is a question to you guys as well?

Um, does it make sense?

This is radical now, so just hear me out, right?

Does it make sense to tear them down and to rebuild them with multiple additional uses right maybe there's even a commercial element to that that then allows you to finance part of it.

So have we used that lens here to look to look at everything then?

No so that that is part of the um like the the future land use map that will say here's what we think is um appropriate going forward and to guide your decisions about development proposals this is really I think um like a starting point to say like what's the low-hanging fruit or what's the like you know what's the kind of non-controversial is just to say like what are we starting with is actually quite limited and to be able to use that as like a look we have a a state mandate to add a housing you know significant number of housing units we have um and a housing crisis and um we understand that this place is historic and you know people want to preserve a lot of its care characteristics um and qualities but like so you know where is the room for change and I think that this is just that first pass um but maybe with some gaps that we need to address and um the the more intense conversation I think will be about the future land use that looks that thinks more in a more open-ended way about what's the potential here.

Yeah so did you again I guess it's a question of filtering.

Did land get filtered out if it was under like it was an hour 10 it was only 5,000 therefore it's not buildable and therefore it doesn't show up here.

Um I don't think so I think this was really about um land that we registered as vacant land like empty or um land that was solely surface parking I think that was like the the two filters.

Yeah along those same lines I was thinking uh you know what with the state zoning changes and laws what this this may be at 3% now but with those changes and what I don't know what properties could be subdivided legally now and and could be billed on and I'd like to see that map right I mean that's more concerning to me especially on a density.

Oh we have that map in the uh build out analysis in our existing housing chapter from 2024.

Yeah.

Cool.

Um all right and just a few slides here on historic and cultural resources we have a couple of focus groups dedicated to this topic um later this week um but I think you know our our sense is that uh in Newport there's a proud tradition of you know capital H, capital P historic preservation and really incredible building stock, but there's also really incredible um history and narratives and um festivals and um things that bring people together and so our intention is to have a really um broad definition of um what are we covering in uh this element that makes Newport such um a special place to live and a special place to visit um we had um a conversation with uh the preservation planner about um the work that has been done and where the conversation is to date I think there's a sense that um uh it might be worth revisiting the local historic district to think about um you know what happens or uh outside of that district and and um you know what is going on with the existing housing stock that may not be designated historic but that really is part of the um character of this place um uh we've been talking about like what other zoning mechanisms might there be to help protect some of those homes and protect the um the way that they um have provided housing for families for many many decades and um and longer and um uh I think there's also uh we've had some conversation around like what are some of the the missing narratives or the lesser told narratives that are um um important to really fold into the the discussion and um so we're glad to be um connecting with some of the groups that are doing that work and making sure we want to make sure that it comes through as part of the the comprehensive plan is that the history of this place as much as the the mansions um we know that there's a lot of um really valuable historic assets uh within the you know parts of the city that do see flooding and so we've done some calculations on like what's the the value of those assets and um we will be having some deeper conversations later this week about the initiative to um raise some of those buildings or to keep uh history above water um I think that we're we hope to have some conversations around managed retreat and um uh you know just kind of get a better sense of what's the the conversation um among neighbors and among uh organizations uh that are grappling with these really serious uh climate change uh issues what exactly is meant by managed retreat um maybe an example would help um it's a decision to uh not necessarily rebuild and to possibly relocate um assets that you before crisis strikes and so how is that financed how is it handled what what are some examples from other towns that may have done the um that's a good question I I'll have to do some we might have done it Dora's Duke did it yeah yes she moved stuff and then so you know I think that sometimes it's I mean I can think of examples of houses that people have moved um like with their own resources right it's like a um but I I think that um I don't know the answer to that we'll have to do some research um to understand because it's it's obviously not a um yeah it could it could create some consternation yeah without having uh some context around it and yeah some okay one other uh consideration probably very low in the last 25 years the city has twice applied for world heritage um designation uh it may do it again and if it that comes with some obligations and how you protect land now I don't know if it's stricter or less strict than our historic district but technically it would probably apply in the entire city okay okay yeah it's a it's a good part of the most active and most valuable part of the city will be in yes I assume that the half a billion of capital wish list doesn't include that.

No that's right that those would be additional dollars that that is really just like to maintain what we have the the infrastructure.

Yeah.

Okay.

Thanks.

And so and then this just sort of reiterates what I've said which is that there's the the built form that is worthy of preservation and then there's also the the people and the places and the the stories and memories of this place.

And so we're doing our best to document the range of museums and uh festivals and um cultural entities in the city and I think um probably this is another place where there's some work to be uh to to be checked but um thank you Frederick for following up with that additional um more detailed list.

I appreciate you mentioning but it's listen all I did is I pulled it together that's all but I really feel that we're looking at it I I tend to walk away from the conversations with the impression that we are of course proud of what's there and we've we point to the history we love to point to history which in most cases makes a lot of sense but I think in art and culture for me it's almost like we should be aggressively looking forward.

Yeah as opposed to backward and thinking of this as a culture that we must have stewardship over it and make sure that it will be preserved for the future because it is a foundation of of why people come here.

Right.

So, do you do see the new ones between that?

Yeah, I do.

It's um what's the what's the vision?

What keeps this current and what who's what's the succession planning so that's not like a cemetery that we have to preserve, you know.

So yeah.

So to me it's really more much more because it's what's going to continue to bring generations of people here.

Where does science and technology and design fit?

Oh, good question.

We could certainly add a layer of that here.

I mean, I think that um some of that probably shows up in under education, but I think that um that's a really good point that that should be.

There are those who have made the argument that the state of Rhode Island that design is a unifying economic feature of Newport, design of boats, design of textiles, design of design writ large architectural, you name it, and that it's a kind of unifying theme and that it's very important in innovation and growth.

One of the conversations that was had was with our um IT director, who's a really forward-thinking person.

And if we're imagining a plan that's gonna take us into the next 25 years, we probably can't imagine what that's gonna be like.

But we definitely know it's gonna include some new and different technology and how we're gonna assimilate that into city services as well as our community in general, or even a point of view about data centers or a point of view about uh about having uh quantum computing capabilities, having um high speed community uh computing uh facilities or capabilities in in the area.

Yes, there are many actual uh businesses that would uh will do now and will increasingly require those.

Yes, that is um one of Kevin, the economist on our team, that's one of his like areas of interest, and um he's done a lot of work around that, so I'm sure that's you know, on his mind, and we're also the comp plan has a lifespan of 10 years, but we can update it four times a year.

So as things might change, like in the area of technology, we certainly can take a breath at that point, assess where we are and make amendments to our comp plan.

So four times in the in the decade, four times a year or four times a year, 40 times total might wanted to do that if we were super ambitious.

We had a lot of energy, yeah.

Yeah.

What do you tell you to do it?

We're all going full chapter time.

So we updated the housing plan.

Exactly.

We updated the housing chapter.

Before that, we incorporated the North End urban plan.

Um we've done some changes that were related to um private uh uh private uh constituents asking to change certain things.

So we did quite a bit of work and comp comp plan amendments.

What is uh it's we did the economic section last month.

What is IT development, IT investment, the tech is that in the economic section or is there an IT section?

So actually the um when we met with the IT director, he was making the case that in addition to resiliency and water, not meaning like utilities, but meaning the ocean and harbor, that technology should also be uh in today's day and age, like a thread throughout um all of the chapters to say like what is the role of technology in planning for economic development and planning for residential development, et cetera.

Um I think probably the it I think it we did make space for a goal that's dedicated to data and technology under city services and facilities just because it wasn't named in the prior plan and it obviously is a core part of city operations.

Um, uh, but I think yeah, he was just saying like comprehensive plans need to be thinking about this in a in a holistic way as well.

So um we'll see where that takes us, but I think that um it's good for us to ask the question under each element is there a relationship and you know, what do we need to be saying about that?

So are there in current plan or past there's whatever number of elements are there other cross-cutting things, themes that are already existing?

Um not so much.

I mean, the prior plan is uh I mean, there's always relationships between the, you know, each of the elements, they all kind of speak to each other, but I I think that that was part of planning and development's charge to us when we started this project was to say, you know, resiliency.

Can we think about that like in each chapter in each we're developing strategies and goals for each element?

What is a resilient economy look like?

What is a resilient housing stock look like?

What is, and so it's not just about, you know, flooding and and but that it could be about um lots of things.

And so I think that um technology is something that touches like all aspects of our life all the all the time.

And so I I think it's a worthwhile question.

And I think it sounded to me from talking to the IT director that there are conversations at the state level happening about like what is the comp plan requirements need to be about um to data technology, but they're not there yet.

I was just gonna ask.

Would we be getting too far away from state guidelines if instead of this being a series of chaps, more matrix?

There's the elements on one side and common themes and then the relationship.

Yeah.

We just left.

I think we have to meet their criteria, it seems like, but I I think we are we are hoping to um like push the envelope in a few ways, and we can always add to it.

So we could say like we've met your criteria, but here is a matrix that shows the relationships or you know, the the um the policies and the goals that are cross-cutting.

And so, you know, I think that's in an interest of ours certainly.

And um, I don't they won't fault us for doing more, but they, you know, it's um not necessarily required.

Well, sort of period that is undergoing such enormous change.

And we're just starting, but truly.

And so it it's also very difficult to sit here today and to project what the impact of all this will be even a year from now.

Truly.

So I can appreciate that.

Yeah, and I I think that um, but to put to put it in the plan and to say we need to be asking these questions as we're making decisions, and we need to be really like putting that on the city's work plan to say what are we doing to keep up and what are we doing to innovate?

And um, I think that that is the role that the comprehensive plan can play, but we we won't be able to predict um where technology is taking.

I won't be up.

Or it's it's dangerous to predict right now.

Yeah, yeah.

Sunny, this is an area you've thought a lot about.

Do you have any thoughts about this?

I think I've expressed most of them in the meetings.

Um, not really.

Oops.

So well, I'm going the wrong way.

Sorry.

Um, I think the last note was just uh kind of acknowledging um, as we have before in our conversation about quality of life for people who live here versus the you know visitor experience, um, that that translates to the historic and cultural landscape as well, and um making sure that there are things that draw people here and their dollars, and there are things that bring people together who live here, and that all of that is part of the the conversation.

So um that's what we're we're workshopping.

So I'll pause.

This is the first third of the presentation, and so I appreciate the dialogue if there's any other questions, other than otherwise, I'll take us into the next third, which is about um our synthesis of the public engagement to date.

Great.

Uh so you can see that uh we've been hard at work at our desks, um, not here since December.

And um, so we're we have a bunch of trips uh on our horizon and um we'll be meeting monthly.

I think that the bottom line there shows monthly meetings with our advisory committee.

Uh we had our first kickoff uh virtually last week, and just to get like housekeeping and catch them up on the process and do some introductions.

I feel really encouraged about it.

I think that the process of seating that committee was worth the wait.

And so there's a really cool group of people who care a lot and bring a lot of different perspectives.

Um, so we will be meeting with them on Friday this week, and then um our plan is we'll be like one month virtual, one month in person, one month virtual with them.

Um we will be back here next uh the third week of July, as Becky mentioned.

Um we'll have a chance to I think have a workshop with the planning board and city council together.

We will also be convening our second round of focus groups during that trip.

Um, and then we'll be back at the end of August with draft strategies uh for public review, and so we'll be designing a second open house style event on August 27th.

So that means uh our team has two trips planned during your peak season.

So we'll get to here and experience or experience what we've been hearing about um uh since we got started, sort of in your fall shoulder season.

And then there will be one more briefing once the plan is really ready for is pretty polished and ready for your review.

So I think we probably need to decide like or you all need to decide how much you want to be hearing from us as we start to make chapters of the plan come into being so that it's like not such an overwhelming amount of material to review when the plan is done.

And I think that statewide planning has asked that as well.

That as chapters are written, we start to send those over so to so they can give us some feedback on our work.

So there might be a little more homework coming up.

Okay.

Anyone have any problems with that?

Have a particular way they want to see the see this roll out.

Okay.

Sounds good.

All right.

So the last uh time we were here, it was cold, it was really rainy, and we were at Rogers High School for the winter workshop.

And so we had um uh okay turnout, and we had a lot of good conversations and um uh I think a good, you know, general vibe in the room.

Um, this is just a tally of all the ways that people have had an opportunity to to help shape the plan.

We've done those 30 interviews and um staff conversations.

We've had four briefings.

This will this is our fifth, I guess.

Um, uh, we've had five different open house events, um, one of which we staffed and the others have been led by planning and development team.

Um we uh or staff have done a couple specific community meetings.

Um, and then at the end there you can see we've had our two online tools.

So the survey that got nearly 900 responses and is still growing, and the um collaborative map that was online got 230 um insights and ideas, and so um that is also a nice way for us to have some place-specific uh fodder for the the policies and actions.

And um, I want to use the opportunity with this comprehensive plan to really hit home with residents that this has been in the ether for a long time.

Yes.

And they've had the chance to participate.

And those are nice numbers.

But I think the numbers of what you guys delivered.

I mean, everybody here on this side is even bigger.

Yeah.

And you know, in marketing, you know this thing called touch points.

Sure, yeah.

Right?

I mean, that's how ad revenue gets driven on television and all that, but see if you could translate it into touch points.

Sure, yeah.

You know, and and and create a number out of that, you know that that's real.

Yeah.

But I think that would be really impressive.

Okay.

You know, because it'll probably be in the thousands.

I think that's right.

And I think that's really important for people to realize.

Okay, we can totally do that.

Um, and this week, you know, I think we'll we'll cross paths with, you know, probably more than a hundred people in like a deeper conversation.

So it's going up and up.

So I I think that um we're, but I hear, I hear your point.

We often do that to stay at the end of the process, we've heard from, you know, 4,000 different people.

Yeah, and this is show the touch points, you know, in buckets, obviously, you know.

So, so this I won't read this through, but if you have it in your packet, so we've now had uh one-on-one interviews with um everybody on city council.

We have had that's the list on the right of all the um city staff that we've met with um to understand their slice of city government and what they're working on and what they need from the comprehensive plan update.

Um we've got a list of the kind of anchor institutions and partners that we have connected with.

I think that list probably has a few gaps in it that we're working to fill.

Um, and then on the right where it says next week, it's actually this week.

And so those are the 15 focus groups that um we will be convening.

Uh, so one down and 14 to go.

All right, so uh we have some numbers here just to give you a sense of who took the survey, and then we'll talk through what are the main takeaways that we uh found.

So um these numbers are like a little bit in flux, but um uh you can see here the number of respondents, the survey demographics, and then how they compare to the city of Newport demographics.

And so you can see that like 90% of the survey respondents were white compared to 74% of the population that is white.

Um we did do some um looking, Frederick, into the Hispanic Latino population.

Um we had 13 surveys completed in Spanish, but we had I think nearly 50 respondents said that they speak English or Spanish or English and Spanish at home.

So that number I think we could probably um present a little bit differently.

Um, but I do think that um uh we are kind of underrepresented in in certain areas.

Um I think that uh, you know, you can see that we had four people who identify as black or African American 0.5% of respondents, um, compared to six percent of the city.

Um we are overrepresented, or like seven percent of respondents are two or more races, and so I think that we're seeing that in more of the cities where we work in more of the survey responses that people um you know have different multiple identities, and um, and so um that might boost that number a little bit.

But um anyway, we have the opportunity to do some more targeted outreach um, and we'll be having some neighborhood meetings or some work uh special meeting in the north end on Thursday night.

Um, and so maybe we'll be able to boost those numbers a little bit.

Yeah.

So this just question.

Is this the way it was listed for self reporting?

Uh in the survey?

I don't think so.

How did you determine then whose two or more or sorry that was an option, but it wasn't in this order.

It wasn't in this chronological.

But these are the choices.

Yes.

Because I think I can already see where you're gonna have some problems.

Okay.

Um many who are African American, but if they're light skinned, they will consider themselves two or more races.

Okay.

Or Latinos who don't identify, who won't specifically say they're Latino, but they will say they're two or more races because they are also um.

So those numbers, the two or more races, the Hispanic Latino and the Black and African American could be very jumbled together.

I think that's true.

I think that's true.

Um this map shows uh by graduated dot scaled dots where we had the greatest participation.

So and then it has sort of the the rankings by neighborhood for the top five responding neighborhoods in that chart there.

So um you can see, but we had, you know, we did hear from people kind of across the city, and that was good.

So if you recall, the survey had a short section up front that was for everybody.

It was like the 10 most pressing questions or five most pressing questions, and then we had different tracks for people who had the appetite to take more of a survey.

So there was a resident section, there was a section for people who work uh in Newport, and there was a section for people who live nearby or or visit.

And so um uh the questions were different, and I we've mostly focused on the the resident uh experience in our in our digest tonight, and that was by far the majority of people who took the survey.

Um so we I won't go through every question, but we did include um the one a few um snippets of the questions that we asked everybody to respond to.

So um this first one was about when you think about the future, what's like the most pressing issue that needs to be addressed, and people could choose up to three options, and so um here they are rank ordered in terms of the um what got the most traction, and you can see aging infrastructure is a primary concern.

You can see lack of affordable housing or available housing, and um you can see the um kind of need to figure out how to balance preservation with new development and balance resiliency as part of that mix.

Those were were the kind of the the top three.

Um we also asked sort of if those were like the big picture like existential questions for Newport.

Um, this second one was about more of the day-to-day experience and what it would make the greatest impact in terms of quality of life.

And so um traffic and crowds came up as the number one item.

Um efforts to discourage dark houses or second homes, and then I think the parking question is or maybe we didn't word it quite right but the idea was um how do we have parking outside of the um downtown central business district and bring people in so that it's less congested in the downtown um and so those were the kind of two out of three related to um congestion and traffic and then we asked for as the city grows and knowing that the city does change even if it's largely built out what are people most keen on seeing and so I think for residents it's um not surprising that there's an interest in parks and public space there's an interest in water access points and there's a real interest in um pedestrian only or transit only areas so that there's less um again congestion uh near key destinations but then you can see that there is an interest in middle income and workforce housing there's an interest in affordable housing and so I think there is you know so a significant number of people who are also saying I do want to see more development followed by people who say I do not want to see more development so I think that you all live and breathe this as members of the planning board um but it shows up in a survey any questions before I go through the 10 takeaways.

I would I would someone define development though.

How would some oh um I think we think of that as like new construction or again new buildings um I'm not sure that we I think that was how it was worded it was a little bit undefined perhaps but that was um that was the word I mean it might not be actually people might have a different understanding sure.

Alright so the 10 tech OEs are a blend um there you'll see that we've stitched in a lot of the public survey um data but we've also looked at what did we hear from the winter workshop and from the Broadway Street Fair and the other events that staff have attended what did we hear from city staff and um you know where it made sense we've added some of our data and analysis to the work as well.

So housing housing housing even though you all just updated your housing chapter I think people are still it's like front of mind.

And we heard that lack of availability or affordability is you know was the second priority as I already mentioned but it's something that um is still very much something that uh people are struggling with and thinking that the plan needs to grapple with and so the first focus group we had today was about kind of revisiting the goals of the housing chapter and saying like where do we do we need to change things or edit things tweak them and and if so what might that look like excuse me go back to that yep.

The takeaway is that the public thinks that the housing plan needs to be updated again.

No, I think that it's that um the public probably is not that aware that the um housing chapter was just updated and they believe that this is a huge issue.

So to me it's like you guys were out in front of this you said this is going to take it will take up all the air space if we do it in the context of our comprehensive plan update.

So let's do it first.

But I think that uh to honor what we're hearing that people this is like still front of mind it's worth um talking about like what was in that chapter and are there things that um we should be uh modifying or or adding to it uh to some degree would just counter that maybe less modifying is we actually need to do the things that are in the housing chapter.

They don't no one knows we updated the housing chapter yes I think that's right.

I guess I think that's true.

But we did have a good conversation with folks at our housing um focused group and I think a lot of it to Trisha's point like is already in the the plan it is in the chapter and so it is sort of like okay well are there some issues that are preventing us from moving forward and is there some you know more specificity that we can put in there about um some of the policies and strategies or is were those things already discussed and they were dead on arrival and therefore they're not in the plan and you know they're still gonna not gonna make much you know headway.

So I think um yes I think by and large people do not who you know are not in this world do not necessarily follow all of the planning updates that occur.

But so uh 20% of the people who took the resident survey were renters and um we can see that cost was you know the the number one consideration that people the pressure that people are feeling um related to housing and so I think it's um it's it's rent certainly but it's also some of the costs of um homeownership here as well um there's this sense that the the housing stock is um really constrained by the interest in people who are not here year round um and uh so those are just some of the the housing burdens that people are reporting to us which I think is probably hopefully resonates and is not that surprising.

Yeah 20% were renters who's who um responded what's the percentage actually in the port do we know?

I should know that off the top of my head um but I don't do you guys know that's also in the housing chapter but more people rent in Newport than own.

And I think that the the other statistic that I think is also very interested interesting and I've been curious about this as a the tax rebate has evolved um just what is it just 53% of homeowners are here 70% of the time.

Is that the 52% 52 um seven months more than seven months so that's you know that that's the percentage that qualifies for the residential tax right.

And that's not very many homeowners.

So yeah yeah yep.

Um all right so the second one which I think you might have gotten a sense from for like those overarching or the the big questions that we started with was just that tourism is an economic driver it is an important part of the economy here.

It also has a big impact on people's quality of life and so some of the top priorities were about circulation about managing traffic about what's happening with the housing stock and um how people move to and through the city so um uh that work you know this is another instance where you all updated your transportation master plan in 2023 so I think that there's a lot of good ideas there to kind of think about if things haven't moved forward why um and most of that's still on the table I think that the there are a few new ideas to consider about um like water access water transport water based transport and um uh rail would be some areas to kind of add to that um suite of ideas but um certainly I think there's been already a lot of good thinking by our teammates tool and and the city staff about um the the circulation and and transportation side of things um so this is from the collaborative map and you can see that people had a lot of ideas about um or a lot of kind of concerns about circulation particular to the downtown and so um I think that doesn't come as much of a surprise either to you probably but it's something for us to think about how do we respond to that um in the strategies and policies.

And then just a note on the short term rentals um as you know it's putting pressure on the housing availability um and I think there's different data sources but there's a uh there's so this is like kind of contradicts that like 52% from the the tax data but I think there's a you know another statistic that staff have been working on that says there's maybe between 15 and 20% of total housing units that are not occupied on a year-round basis.

So depending on the data that you're looking at it you know it's somewhere in that 15 to 20 up to 52 percent um but it may not be as dire as half I guess um okay number three is about aging infrastructure this was one of the things that we opened with with the conversation around city services and facilities um you can see that um there's a lot of interest in making sure that the the roads and the seawalls and the sidewalks and the reservoir um utilities are kind of protected and um for the long term I think that there's a real sense that uh cost is part of what the issue is and has been and so um that's something that uh this plan can hopefully help tee up to think about like this isn't um like a nice to have it's um it's a must have and how do we think through um planning for uh sustained investment to to um upgrade and and and maintain the infrastructure that we have that allows us to be here the word utility uh what are you including in there uh that would be the water utilities but also like you know energy it's sort of all of the technology it's it's like power is obviously driven by you know right island energy yeah and so are you introducing some more gear their perspective on this?

Um is somebody coming to the focus there yeah multiples so there's the EBCAP affordable energy liaison and then the um rhode island energy representatives that work with Newport have been invited.

One reason I'm asking is because for the last few months already Rhode Island energy is in my neighborhood on an ongoing basis.

And they are replacing the the old polls with new polls and they're running now three phase wiring which means it's like it's a step up power source right.

And because homes are requiring more power going forward.

Yes right and so they are investing in this so when we talk about the subject I just want to make sure that we're delineating between what Rhode Island Energy is sort of committing to already right and they've got the funds versus the city's half billion dollar capital need, right?

Yeah which includes this.

Pretty sure no not the water the water water utility water is part of that.

I think the energy probably there isn't a cost in there for the for energy.

Yeah because it's separate.

Right exactly but this sort of lumps it together and I think we may need to parse out the electric part of this yes I don't understand at least what what their plan is and then make sure that we have this properly stated.

Yes okay that makes sense.

Services.

Yes, yeah, those right of course yeah so we did get some of that background from the IT director about you know who who are the providers and what are they up to.

I noted this already but there's like differing opinions that you all are acquainted with about um the right balance between preserving neighborhood character and accommodating new growth.

I think that um this will be continue to be a real point of discussion as as we work on our future land use map.

So um we can all be preparing for that um discussion and thinking about how to uh consider the trade-offs and have a a meaningful conversation so this just shows people's um kind of a the per the rate of response for people who said there's too much housing being developed that's 20% people who say there's too little housing being developed that's 40% people who are saying 5% saying it's being developed in the right places 20% saying it's wrong in the being developed in the wrong places um 31% saying we shouldn't allow any more housing in the floodplain and 22 people saying I just don't know.

So there's a real um mix within this uh in terms of people's perspectives.

Me that suggests the need for some education yeah.

How do you plan to approach the balance problem?

Is that fairly set subjective?

Yeah I mean I think that um we need to find ways to talk about adding housing units in a way that fits within the character and um uh is something that people can still like identify as like that feels like the newport that I love I think um we our office does a lot of drawing and so for comp plans we don't do you know it's not usually like partial specific planning but we can provide some typologies and some examples that say like this is something that you know um would be in keeping and would allow for some um additional places for people to for to live and to be able to age in place and free up existing housing stock and etc.

So I think that um you know it's that is one way that we can help to um have a conversation and do some education uh around you know we're not necessarily talking about like um really tall hotels we're talking about you know buildings that um look and feel like the you know the the local character and um are designed for for people to live in.

But you know I think what we're seeing these days in some of our comprehensive planning work is like a real it's like other aspects of our national dialogue these days but like a polar polarized conversation.

So there's like some people who are saying like we need all the housing like as much as we can possibly build the Yimbees and then there's people who are saying like really we don't want any and I think that like probably the right answer is somewhere in the middle and it's about figuring out like what's the tolerance and we're thinking about where is it appropriate to add those types of uses and where's the infrastructure there to support it and the transit infrastructure etc.

And so um you know that that the future land use conversation like that is really what what it's poised to that's the can of worms it opens um but I don't you know I think you all know better than than we do how like where that conversation may go but um that is typically how we approach it is about um kind of general locations and typologies.

So we have some questions about uh how people feel about neighborhoods and so you know 34% are saying like we're seeing real improvements and we're seeing um buildings being restored we're seeing like new exciting businesses and neighbors kind of cleaning things up and some of the quality of life issues with abandoned cars being addressed.

We're seeing new access to the water and so there's been I think there was some real positivity in this question.

We also saw about like a third saying it stayed the same and a third saying the neighborhoods have declined so people kind of reflecting on the fact that like there's less of a sense of neighborliness if people have are not living year-round.

There's a sense of like the impact of soaring real estate prices and and tax burdens and traffic and so um again this is a little bit like a mixed messages that I think like we can find positive things to build upon and also be able to focus in on like what are the pain points.

Do you know what neighborhoods they are coming we're talking about.

We yeah we could we could produce that um if if you all are curious to see some cross tabulations um it's a perfect bell curve yeah and these aren't actually contradictory if you go back one where they're saying dilapidated houses are being bought and renovated now go back to the other one and it's overpriced real estate.

So that's what people are doing.

Yeah.

Yep.

So the harbor was you know a point of uh interest um people really are excited to see um uh in continued uh access points and um uh more ways to get close to the water and to enjoy the water I think that um it's something that is like like I said core to the identity of this place and that um uh people want to um preserve and and enhance going forward so um we know that there's more work to be done on the um access to the harbor front, and I think there's some you know important good movement happening there.

Um I've already showed you this graph.

Uh so I think some of the other kind of flags for us to be grappling with are that that notion of like the limited number of parcels that have water access and to make sure that we're using those for water-based use uh wherever possible.

We know that there's um a conversation about dredging that will be needed within the next five to seven years, and I don't even have a price tag for that, so that's not included, but that would be a local um cost.

And so I think that this is something that the harbor master flagged, it's something that the economists on our team is really concerned about, and so I think um, you know, that's something that will have to be factored into the costs and and planning.

And then um there's also an understanding that the harbor front is um, you know, low in elevation, and so it is at risk for for flooding, and it is a valuable um area within the city in terms of the real estate there and the the mix of businesses and um uses.

Number six is that there's a consistent call for year-round work and a really like living wage jobs.

Um we know that the tourist industry provides about 50% of the private sector jobs.

Um, and so uh if Kevin were here, our economist will be here on Thursday, um, you know, he he always talks about preserving uh land for people to where people can work, and I think that we have such a housing, strong housing market and so much housing pressure.

Um, it's gonna be a real um discussion again with the future land use to think about um what's the right mix of making space for residential and making preserving space for for work.

Um there was a theme about outdoor recreation, water-based recreation, access to parks and green space.

Um it seems like uh public bathrooms are a real um interest in terms of uh a public amenity.

Um, and um also as I mentioned before, uh a need for additional recreational facilities, athletic fields that can be sort of shared by multiple users.

Um, and um since land is so limited.

Number eight is about um different age groups, and so I think you know, we know that um it's harder for families with young kids to find housing in town.

Um we know that uh we have an aging uh population of the popul the 65 and older population is growing fastest, and so um I think there's some work to be done as we um imagine the programming and the services that are provided and offered within the city, as well as we we think about the housing that is needed for these different populations.

Um interest of time.

Um, number nine is about um uh the value that people place on arts and culture, and um, that that is something that people really value and you know want to see protected.

I think it's something that draws people here, something that keeps people here, and so um when we see improvements for quality of life that includes local business, it includes arts and culture, and um it's something that people really uh would like to see more of and have more opportunities in their in their day to day.

And then the last one, um, which is one of our through lines is just about resiliency, and so we've kind of called out on this map the places, the community assets that are at risk within the hundred and five hundred year flood zones.

Um, and I think that you know, in addition to that, there's people's homes, there's people's businesses, um, there's important parts of the economy, and so um we will this will be part of every chapter as we work on the the comprehensive plan update, and that's something that um the public recognizes is really important.

Um, and I think that we asked at the winter workshop about what is a resilient newport mean to you, and and people really um came up with a lot of ideas that are much broader than just about flooding or sea level rise and and weather events.

They talk about a strong economy, they talk about middle income housing, they talk about safe streets and clean water, and so, you know, I think that um there's a sense that um there's ripple effects between these different plan elements and a future where people have real staying power is about much more than um you know what's happening with our our climate.

I'll just check in.

How are you guys doing?

I'm talking a lot.

You okay?

Should I keep going?

Okay, everyone.

Okay, we're almost at the choose your own adventure part.

Okay.

So the question is like we've done all this listening, we've done all this research, and like, so what does that mean for the plan?

And so we take that the data and we take the public input and we use that to shape our departure point.

So we've got an updated vision statement that you have in your packet, and we have a series of updated goals for each element.

And we've tried to show you with a breadcrumbs of like what it was in the 2017 plan, um, what it what the goals were from some of the recent planning work on the tree park and open space plan on the keep newport moving transportation plan on the housing chapter.

Um, and uh then we've given you our work as far as um some edits to those goals or updates or additions, and um that is really it's not set in stone, it's meant uh for discussion this week with our focus groups, and they'll continue to evolve as we build out the policies and actions.

So I won't read this to you, but it's in the 2017 comprehensive plan.

It's the vision statement that came that we kind of um can read in that in that prior plan.

I think uh some of the things that we noted were that um it doesn't say much about resiliency or climate change.

Um affordable housing has become more and available housing has become more of a part of the dialogue since then, and um as has um uh tourism and um I think also the way we think about the working waterfront and the harbor front.

Is it Mindy?

Is there any point at which in this process we reflect on the extent to which we achieve the 2017 goals?

Yes, so uh we uh made a crazy big spreadsheet that takes all of the goals and policies and actions and recommendations from the prior comp plan and all of the other prior plans that we've had the pleasure of reading, and um, I bet.

And then in addition to that, just so you're aware, there's the state requires a five-year check-in process um when a comprehensive plan is adopted.

So actually, when I was an intern here in like 2021 or 2022, um we did that with some planning board members as well.

And that was also another huge, giant spreadsheet of every single goal and policy and action.

So we we made the spreadsheet and then we asked planning development staff to go through it and um update it with the status of those ideas and whether they were there was progress made, whether it was no longer relevant or whether it had been achieved.

And so um we have that tool if you would like to look at it.

Um it's not tonight, not tonight, but it exists.

And I think it's a really good resource, and it really is it's because um part of our job is to pull it all together, right?

And so we have to understand like um what's the work that's been done because 10 years is a long time, and as much as things stay the same, they also change.

It's a tool to demonstrate again to the residents and to the public that actually a document like this yields a result.

Exactly, exactly.

So that's a simplify it, no one's gonna read it.

So is there like a dashboard that shows hey, X percent achieved, and we haven't made that yet, but we often do like a report card that just summarizes it by elements.

So I think that that's a really good suggestion for the um the public open the second public open house to just be able to.

Yeah, I would suggest though that if we have to do this every five years, update is when we do the update, we get all the real data, and then there's something without the website that shows what's gonna happen to it.

Yeah, I think that you're I mean, that could be part of the technology uh recommendations for you know, like how do you track the progress of the plan and how and as you're thinking about implementation, um, how do you quantify the um decisions that this body makes, and how do you really show that like the policies are being enacted, but sometimes that wasn't enough, and so what else do we need to do to trigger the type of response that we want to see?

So um the public relations office here should be able to translate that uh-huh into a document that is like a press release almost that states it in just very high-level uh points that then get also picked up by the press.

Yep, you know, and published, sure, right?

And uh and so on.

Many of those press um documents of now being actually electronically sent out to or subscribed to.

So I mean, there are many ways that that can be done.

Absolutely.

All right.

So we'll add that to our list of report card um on the on the past plan.

Um, because I think that the spreadsheet is not that user-friendly, but it is helpful to us and it is our job to help to tell a story with it.

We also put in that is a requirement in the comp plan that there's this should be reported out going forward.

Yes, I think absolutely.

I mean, so there is a really well the state does require that, doesn't it?

Yeah, exactly.

We already have requirements to report out on this annually to the stake to the city council, right?

But the but we could, to Paul's point and Frederick's, we could expand that to the whole community and make sure we have a PR strategy, and that'll be a public record that's available for everybody.

So we've already prepared it.

It's that would be a very simple thing to for us to add.

Um so we took the words that we heard from our from the winter workshop and the interviews and um conversations along the way, and we have drafted uh a revised vision statement.

Would you like me to read it to you or would you like to read it yourselves or would you like me to keep going because you've already read it?

We can okay.

Well, yeah.

We're at eight o'clock, we've been here for an hour and a half, okay.

Great mission.

Great.

So this we're we're pretty much at the end here.

So we're gonna maintain the general organization of your prior uh comprehensive plan that takes the 11 elements and breaks them into related chunks, so it's more sort of like a wayfinding tool.

So we're not gonna reinvent that wheel.

We we like that wheel.

Um, and then this is just to give you like uh explanation of our process with the draft goals.

And I don't think we need to go through all the draft goals, but I'm happy to have a conversation about any questions you all have.

But we basically said on the left column is like, what are we proposing as the draft goal for 2037 for each element?

Um what is this the relationship of our of that work to the prior goal to the goals that came before us, whether that's from the 2017 comprehensive plan or some of those more recent planning efforts?

And so just as an example for land use, and after there is a list of like all of the the elements, so you guys can we can talk about them as much as you want or not at all.

Um just so you can under see kind of like what came before us.

So the on the right there, that big square is like there was one goal that was about providing a balanced mix of land uses, and so we've broken that out into four so that we can say like what are what actually are the strategies to be able to um develop uh economic development for the city and job creation so that it's got like its own specific space for policies and action strategies.

What are the specific space for us to have like water harbor front, working waterfront, uh water access based um recommendations?

What are the um so anyway, that's I'm saying the same thing multiple times, but we we broke out that one so we have better framework with which to plug in recommendations um and then um in yellow you can see some of our our edits here about um uh more specificity in terms of like the relationship between development and um resiliency and um mitigating climate change and kind of protecting or avoiding development in flood-prone areas, and then um we did a little bit of tweaking on the the prior goal about the achieving the vision put forth by the North End Urban Plan, and we changed it to advance the vision and we built in the words for equitable redevelopment, and so I think that gets at some of what the community's ethos is um around equitable redevelopment, and I think the advance the vision acknowledges our sense that there are some like structural and uh financial issues with that land that have prevented it from the the North End Urban Plan from already being accomplished, and so maybe we can um have some more interim steps to consider how we might unlock the development potential there.

So it that's just like an example of how we've taken what came before us and thought through like how do we um create new buckets to hold the types of recommendations that we want this plan update to have.

Um so I will stop talking there.

I will happily take questions about particular elements or our process, and I will, if you want me to go through each element, we can do that.

But um general question, yes.

Uh when is this document locked?

I mean, I know that it will get reviewed by the state, but is there is it then still itched in jello, meaning if the state says, you know, uh we don't like this, we don't like that, then we have to reopen and work on it.

Is that right?

Yeah, so the state will probably have certain revisions, one strategy the city has used, which has been fruitful for us, especially in terms when you're evaluating, you know, contracted services, having a six month retainer window is annoying to in, but so what we do is when the chapters are finished products, so probably housing since it's the most updated, that jello draft gets sent to the state, and then when the state finalizes comments, that's done.

The reason I'm asking also is because of the elections.

Right.

Right.

So the new council gets sworn in on December 1st.

Um I remember that correctly.

Yeah, like right around then.

So what are the rules of engagement?

Did you say December 1st?

Yes.

Of this year.

Yes.

And so what are the rules of engagement of the of the new council vis-a-vis this plan?

So there's oh wait, there's no rules of engagement for this.

So maybe I use the wrong words, but right.

So the the council can change completely every two years.

It doesn't typically do that, but all of our council runs every two years.

These plans are kind of what unites us.

This is the thread that makes this all make sense for everybody.

So the plan won't change.

So that this we're hoping to get this to this council so that they can approve it.

If not, we'll wait a little bit until the next year till the new council is seated, and with the new counselors are brought up to date, and we'll have them approve it.

But the hope is for this council to vote and approve it, and we're we're looking at around October before the election.

Okay, thank you.

But still that's not locked in place, and so what we do is so one of the things that we know that the chapters are pretty good when we get to the point where we start putting it all together, is we send the drafts to the state.

The state will send those back, we modify them, making sure that the state has had a chance to weigh in before we put the final project together.

So when it goes to its final approval at the state, they've already had a chance to weigh in and make sure things are pretty consistent with their regulations or consistent with their regulations.

And of course, you have the option to change it four times a year.

So exactly.

And as I recollect the planning board reviews and then makes a recommendation to city council.

And do we do that before the state reviews or after?

That's first.

Well, you know, we can send the chapters, you'll look at that, you'll review it and give a recommendation to the council always before it goes to the council.

I will unless people see it differently.

I will really like the chapters to just roll to us as they're available so that we can review them and then we'll have to review the totality.

But hopefully we'll had our chance to think through each chapter as it's come.

Makes sense.

Okay.

Um the other um just general comment I have about the goals is it at least I would um suggest that they be like the 2017 goals more action oriented and and as specific as possible.

What are and as measurable as possible?

Um, so rather than encouraging land uses that are consistent, um, you know, that we in ensure that land uses are consistent or that we're um a couple of those are very like we're gonna preserve, we're gonna promote development path.

Maybe maybe promote could be a more action oriented rather than just are we really just going to promote or are we going to um make sure that those development patterns complement um and actually protect environmental resources rather than ensuring protection okay right again things that when we look at uh proposals land use proposals we can look at these goals and say does this proposal meet that goal right and similarly the staff when they're giving us their evaluation of the proposals.

Yeah, we use the documents monthly yes but city staff other than the planning department and the city council I'm pretty sure probably read this approve it and never touch it again you know especially when they're doing budgets and all that stuff you know and having it more um impactful like these are this is what this is what the the people of the of the city want to see you as policymakers of the council and the city manager etc should be doing this okay that's great I think that that's great so we will start with um stronger language and um I think there is like a um I think usually the more um specific and measurable items recommendations are in the policies and actions and so the goals are meant to like just say this is the section of the goals that are or ideas that are about residential development or this is a section but I think that um it makes sense to me what you're saying which is like we actually operate at this level of goals when we're saying like big picture when we're evaluating a project does it meet these this agenda.

So maybe there's another element to this is when you sort of step away from this and you look at the forest not the trees we only have so much so many variables here because we're we're small to begin with right we are built up basically already you know all the stats right and so I think it behooves us to be to use strong action words like you're hearing right because then when we're sitting actually in these meetings where you have you know when when actually when decisions have to be made yeah right we can now point to these were the actions that the plan asked us to pursue.

Yep.

Which you know the residents also were part of that and so forth as opposed to being vague about it which I think larger cities can afford to be that way.

Yeah or something because they have more flexibility.

Yeah.

Yes I hear what you're saying I think it is a it's a a stylistic choice and sometimes you know the the review process kind of starts strong and then it winds up somewhere a little more loose but maybe that's really not you know I think that that's something we we have been hearing that from staff since we started this project saying like we really would like something specific in here that we can point to to be able to do our job to say like this is what the people ask for this is what makes sense and here it is this line this policy this action and therefore we're gonna go do this project.

So I think there's also a lot of analysis that's been done and I think that's largely complete at this point.

And I wonder if we can't now begin sharing that publicly and maybe some kind of uh campaign if I can use the word um even with the local media to start getting that information out to the public so people I this is fascinating information.

And it's things that we just tend to look at what we see anecdotally around us right that house next door to me just sold for whatever right we don't see the whole city.

We don't see the changes across the city and it would be I think very helpful to really share that.

When I meet with the chairs and commissioners you know in the in the mayor monthly I say you know these statistics if you have a chance take a look at these are really important we these present enormous challenges and trade-offs for us as citizens, as elected officials, as volunteers, all of us.

And I think getting that information to the public, helping them understand the context within which we're living is really important.

Yeah.

I think that that's a good point.

And I think um it was you know the the city's communications team does have great reach with the newsletter and with the social media as like we definitely saw when when they pushed out our survey like big uptick so I think to think through like how do we want to but you want the press to pick it up.

Okay.

Not just go out on our platforms.

Yeah exactly you actually you want you know Newport this week or whatever the publications are to pick it up.

Okay.

Yeah so for just to kind of add to what Mindy was saying though the communications department stewards those conversations right so they they have those relationships and decide when or when not is a good time.

So that's something we can explore with the communications team that there is data that the planning board thing should be pushed out more so than it already is because we have been making a really strong effort.

Um yeah so we can explore here's the thing it's like you you're engaging now the public and now we're having these focus group meetings and then all of a sudden there'll be this lull.

Yeah right right and then we're gonna say oh yeah the plan got submitted and approved.

And then everybody in town's gonna go really what so whatever happens from all these conversations and I think if we keep people in the in the feedback loop it doesn't have to be all the time but like whatever whatever the time interval it's up to the public relations department right yeah then uh but then at least they're they feel they're also part of the process sure and I think that was you know in recently rereading the kind of community response to the North End urban plan that was part of it was like we wanted we'll we participated and then you want the follow through right and so I think that that's what you're saying.

Yeah.

Um anything else or otherwise um I we'll be going through the the goals is really a kind of a the work of the focus groups this week and so we'll be having detailed conversations about each element sometimes as a hodgepodge or sometimes distinctly you know that set of goals and um so we'll certainly um have notes and uh continued revisions to that and that will come back before you all but um I think in the meantime um happy to receive any comments by phone or email or whatever you prefer and uh happy to keep answering questions if there are additional is there anyone here uh from public who would like who has questions or would like to make a a brief comment noting that we've been here for almost two hours.

Yes.

My name's Hank discovering a little bit here topic well and um and I think we're gonna have a more a focus to be well I think talking about just comprehensive and just a couple all the speed done here's two things I think publicly are all these somebody has to be talking about these.

And so I think when you do it local screws get get them to get the feedback of what works and what doesn't not hygienic the other thing is I think everyone is rather sense of community and back then we know where we went to the same schools, same neighborhoods, the kids people were there for a long time South European is a help you bring community with on any given May there's 25,000 people live here and there's 25,000 more who are just here during summer that have residents and then there's another five thousand show up every day is business.

We can do that.

So I think uh having some fun with that.

It's been challenging the deal with these very soft things, but I think that they're more of making these happen.

They're all very good.

I didn't ideas.

Also, we have four goals or something.

You know, we almost audience.

So it's saying here's what we're doing with land use.

We have big things.

You need to do that.

And uh if you're doing tourism, what are we missing?

Oh, I think that's one of the other things that it seems to be the root of all the traffic jams, the lack of income into the city faucets, although it's a lot of money.

It brings a lot of money out of it.

Yeah, so I think this is what's bugging people.

So I think that'd be the uh kind of year in the city and people's works and mine.

So it's just a challenge.

Can I have one story as a in response to that, and then I'll let you then I'll stop for the night.

Um so we've done a lot of work in um this community called Macon, Georgia.

It's like two hours south of Atlanta, and they have a community foundation there that um put money into a pot for implementation, and any community member could write a proposal and say, I like the idea about growing the tree canopy in Newport.

I want to plant 50 trees in my neighborhood, I will do the work to find out where they can go, I will figure out how to procure those trees, and this is how much money I need.

And so they've had they would release they would invite proposals like every six months, and it's the coolest way I've ever seen for people to say like it doesn't have to be the city doing this on their own, it shouldn't be the city doing this on their own, and um neighbors working together with some resources can actually like accomplish a lot, and so um that's sort of like outside the purview of a city municipal comprehensive plan, but I think that it shows that there are some creative implementation ideas that can seed that community-oriented approach to like making change, and so if that you could build in that kind of engagement together and you know, whether it's more meeting spaces or whatever it is, the we have to pick up on carry our quick, yeah.

I think they're saying back at big black shots now.

We already have uh a head start on that right with our daffodillions, right?

They're already planting our daffodils everywhere, so you can see how much that helps build from that.

We've also sent out uh during this week coming up here now.

We have uh every day some uh focus group schedules, and I know we've invited all the planning board members if they have a special interest in any of them to please let us know and feel free to attend them.

Uh we don't want to have a quorum at any specifically, so we need to know who goes where, but we have the schedule upstairs and uh there's still open space if planning board members would like to attend.

Great.

Thanks.

Unless we have some more questions or comments, I'd like to move to uh just going through our reports and wrap this meeting up for tonight.

That's right.

Thanks, Mindy and team.

Maria, thank you.

Thank you.

Thanks, Hank and staff.

Okay, members.

Uh let's see.

We have actions of the administrative officer.

Those are for information only staff.

Is there anything you want to say in particular about any of that?

No, madam chair.

Members, any questions about any of these administrative actions?

No.

Okay, liaison reports moving right along.

I love this.

Tree and open space commission.

So the one time I could go, they moved it.

So that was having a tough time with that one.

Yeah, they're difficult.

I could provide a bit of a report.

Um, let's see.

It at their, I think it was their March meeting.

I gave them a green complete streets presentation.

Um, and let's see, at their last meeting they reviewed the strategic um tree uh um plan that's now available for the city of Newport.

Um, and the data of that will be used in the comprehensive plan.

Um, and they are looking at funding options for um putting more amendment amenities at the John Chafee Recreation Center uh near C CCRI.

I think I also heard that we actually have a significant gap in tree cover in Newport.

Is that correct?

Like 20, 30 percent or something.

Yes, yeah.

So we need some more tree cover.

Yes, and if anyone is interested, um I don't believe it's posted on the website yet.

Um, as it's still being accepted by various commissions in the council, but I do have the um Newport Strategic Tree Canopy Plan if anyone's interested in reading it.

Great.

Thank you.

Uh Waterfront Commission.

Um actually I don't have anything to report.

Okay.

Uh Energy and Environment Commission.

It's another one where Hayden actually did all the work because the last meeting I was just saying.

Thank goodness for Hayden.

I know.

Uh, we're very lucky.

I did the presentation on all the energy environmental issues within the comprehensive plan, explaining it to people.

It was really great.

And uh thanks for coming.

Okay.

It's a very active committee.

They've been working hard and they're working hard on the comp plan too, right?

Okay.

Uh comprehensive plan update working group.

I think we've had good reporting on this.

And then the bicycle and pedestrian advisory commission.

Anything that's another one that uh Hayden has participated in.

And the man of the hour, the city manager in Hayden and I went to the last bike and pet commission where we talked about uh the possibility of using funds um from the safe streets for all grant uh for improvements on Narragansett, and I think that they're considering that there had already been CIP funds allocated for Narragansett, but much less money for a smaller project.

Um, but it would have been something that could be very uh easily done quickly, and there's an appetite for some of these projects to start actually being constructed.

But I do think um after considering all of the facts and the sort of uh the opportunity to increase the scope of the project with the federal funds that they're uh going to provide a recommendation to the council on how to move forward, most likely to use the federal funds for Narragansett for the sidewalk for bike facilities and for some safety improvements at the intersection of Bellevue.

Okay.

Yeah, I think one of the observations I can make from the chairs and commissions meetings.

The mayor um has meets with all of the chairs and commission heads uh once a month at various places all over Newport.

So we get to see last one was at Hibernian Hall.

But there's a lot, those are stimulating a lot of coordination across commissions and com and boards and so on to coordinate and leverage their resources and their knowledge to get things done.

So tree and open space and bicycle and pedestrian and safety and so on, have all worked on projects together.

So I think that's a positive that thing that's happening in town.

Um, anything else?

Any questions anyone has?

Anything any other issues they want to bring up?

Then may I have a motion to adjourn at 821?

So moved.

Is there anyone not in favor of adjourning?

All right.

Thank you, everyone