The City Council is meeting in person this week for our regular meeting. We will be taking our second vote on the ordinance to disallow whole-home short-term rentals in residential zones in Newport. As I have previously written, I am firmly in favor of this ordinance change. These short-term rentals take away housing stock that could be utilized by year-round residents and negatively impact our neighborhoods and community.
The City’s Department of Utilities has been working with an engineering consultant on a drainage investigation and flooding analysis for the White Ave area. This investigation has shown that stormwater mitigation requires a comprehensive approach with the participation of both public and private projects. The Department is now recommending that a city-wide stormwater ordinance be developed to aid this approach. An agreement to partner with the same engineering consultant is on this week’s docket and would bring the ordinance to fruition by July.
As the General Assembly considers allowing quadricycle passenger vehicles (also known as pedal crawlers or party bikes), a resolution on the Council docket would ban them within the City. The resolution cites generic congestion as the reason for banning these alternative vehicles and implies that the quadricycles would negatively impact congestion without evidence. The recently published Existing Conditions Report of the Transportation Master Plan shows that residents support alternative transportation options in Newport. We as a City government should not impulsively take away potential transportation and business opportunities without having a concrete examination of their impacts to the transportation network.