This week’s City Council meeting will start with the first of two public hearings on the adoption of the North End Urban Plan into the Comprehensive Land Use Plan. The development of the NEUP was spurred by the efforts to build an Innovation Hub in our North End and to do so in such a way that does not displace our City’s current residents in the process. The Plan uses five themes to guide the future redevelopment in the North End: Opportunity, Connectivity, Resiliency, Equity, and Quality. The development process took place across more than six months and the Planning Board spent four meetings amending the Plan to include resident feedback. We are now at the final step in the adoption of the Plan.
The adoption of the North End Urban Plan is just one step of many that are needed for the City to support economic development and invest in our Community’s future. We are creating and implementing guidelines for development so that it is done thoughtfully and in a way that benefits everyone who lives, visits, and does business in Newport. We need to complete and adopt the accompanying North End Zoning, invest in our infrastructure, and build the framework for Community Benefits Agreements.
This week’s docket includes the Homestead Exemption Report from the City Manager. Combined with the discussion during last week’s Midyear Budget Review and the Capital Improvement Plan we are receiving on Wednesday, the Council has more information to move forward with on making our City budget work better for all Newporters. Before any additional action can be taken toward implementing a Homestead Exemption, a brief demographic study must be done so that we can have a clearer picture of who actually lives in their homes in Newport. The goal of a Homestead Exemption is to make it more affordable to live in Newport for year-round homeowners and renters. For this to be done effectively, we need to do the math and implement an exemption the right way. I am committed to this and will continue to work on getting a Homestead Exemption in place for Newport.
Finally, mark your calendar for February 6 – the City Council will be meeting with out State legislators for our annual workshop about Newport’s legislative priorities in the State House. Email me any items that you want to make sure are brought up for discussion.