Check out five new ways the City Council is trying to increase housing in Newport

Savana Dunning, Newport Daily News
·5 min read

NEWPORT — From short-term rental fees to the city zoning code, the City Council passed a packet of resolutions aimed at tackling Newport’s housing shortage from five different angles.

At the City Council meeting last Wednesday, Mayor Xay Khamsyvoravong said the city has only gained a net total of 24 housing units within the past 23 years.

“There are many different tools with which we can do this, so different councilors have brought forth different tools they would like the council to consider to help us address the housing challenges that are being faced by the city,” Khamsyvoravong said.

Increasing enforcement on short-term rentals

The first of the five resolutions passed Wednesday night resolved for the city to review the current fee structure and enforcement resources for Short Term Rentals and for any proposed modifications to be included as a part of the City’s Fiscal Year 2024 budget.

Councilor David Carlin III, who introduced this resolution, said other communities have higher fees for short-term rentals.

Inside one of the units of The Calvert Newport apartments, which previously was the Cranston Calvert School.
Inside one of the units of The Calvert Newport apartments, which previously was the Cranston Calvert School.

“Our friends and neighbors in Jamestown, Rhode Island, charge $700 for a short-term rental fee,” Carlin said. “We here in the city of Newport charge a $100 fee. The very least I think, and I would respectfully ask our city administration to explore, is that we increase the level, ultimately, of short-term rental fee to $700. We certainly have to attack the issue on a much more firm basis than just this resolution, but tonight this is what my resolution asks.”

Additionally, the resolution asks city administration to provide a monthly report of the number of STRs permitted in the city, the number of applications pending and the number of violations of the city’s STR ordinance.

Updating the city’s zoning code

The second housing resolution sets its sights on the city’s zoning code itself. The current Zoning Code was last adopted in 2000 and the resolution states it “is not designed for a 21st-century community,” and that “nearly every one of the City’s homes and structures” are non-conforming to the code.

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The resolution asks city administration to come up with a work plan and budget for the city to conduct a comprehensive review and modernization of the city’s zoning code. The deadline for the work plan and budget is June 30.

Changing the city’s zoning ordinances

The City Council also plans to provide policy directives during the staff’s review of the city’s zoning code, including its historical zoning ordinances, to be “more objective and affordable for homeowners.” These proposals for ordinance revisions are due by June 30.

Aramli campaigned on updating and streamlining the process homeowners go through to receive building permits through the Zoning Board and Historic District Commission. Aramli himself had a project rejected by the Historic District Commission in March 2022, a process which took over a year, and which he is now waiting to appeal to the Zoning Board.

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In addition to making decisions that may impact the historic district zoning ordinances, Aramli is also able to make appointments to the Historic District Commission. When The Newport Daily News asked whether Aramli considered his appeal of the HDC’s decision would color his decisions regarding the commission, he said his experience of the process gives him more insight to make decisions than his fellow councilors.

“I’m the only sitting city councilor who has actually spent a year experiencing one of the city processes, so there’s nobody up here that’s actually gone through this, to watch it, witness it, see how it operates,” Aramli said. “I’m probably the only city councilor in modern history that’s participated personally in the process for nearly a year and so, quite the opposite, instead of me having a colored perspective on it, I have a better perspective than probably any of my other councilors because I’ve spent more hours over there.”

While Aramli is allowed to make decisions regarding the HDC, he is not allowed to make decisions regarding the members of the Zoning Board because of his active application. Aramli received an advisory opinion from the R.I. Ethics Commission in December which granted him a hardship exception, allowing Aramli to represent himself in front of the Zoning Board to pursue his appeal. However, the commission granted the exception so long as Aramli agreed to recuse himself from appointing or reappointing members to the Zoning Board.

Incentivizing Accessory Dwelling units rentals

The City Council also passed a resolution that seeks to incentivize homeowners to build accessory dwellings and rent them out to Newport residents as a way to increase the number of available housing units in the city.

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Accessory dwelling units, also known as in-law apartments, are smaller housing units built on the same property as single-family homes. The City Council has tasked city administration, the planning board, zoning board and historic district commission to come up with ordinances and policies to encourage accessory dwelling units to be created and rented out.

Finding uses for the Coggshall School and other vacant buildings

The former Coggshall School building has sat vacant since the school closed in 2013. Since the city has been able to find developers to convert other former school buildings into housing, such as the Callender school and the Cranston-Calvert school, efforts have been made to find developers to convert the former Coggshall School into more housing.

Newport City Councilors are seeking options for more housing including a potential reuse of the former Coggeshall School.
Newport City Councilors are seeking options for more housing including a potential reuse of the former Coggeshall School.

The city previously submitted a Request for Proposals for the site according to City Manager Joseph Nicholson. The resolution passed by the City Council asks city administration to reopen its Request for Proposals and return recommendations and proposals to the City Council no later than June 30.

It also tasks the city’s Office of Planning and Economic Development to provide a roster of all vacant municipal buildings, their current conditions and estimated timelines for potential redevelopment into more housing. Additionally, the resolution asks city administration to provide the council with a monthly report on the number of new housing units added or lost each month.

This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Newport, RI, housing production sought in City Council resolutions