Newport's mayor has a North End development plan. Some councilors feel it's an inside job

NEWPORT – Disagreements over who should have a say in the acquisition and development of 25 soon-to-be-available acres of land in Newport's North End split the council on Wednesday.

Mayor Xay Khamsyvoravong introduced a resolution Wednesday night to establish an ad hoc commission that would create a plan for how the city could acquire, remediate and prepare the land made available through the completion of the Newport Pell Bridge ramp realignment project. The ramp reconstruction is expected to free up approximately 25 acres of land in Newport, but the Rhode Island Department of Transportation has not given Newport the rights to develop the space as of yet.

The Ad Hoc Bridge Realignment Property Advisory Commission will be tasked with creating a “Project Execution Plan” which leads to “pad ready, market-ready conditions,” on the hopefully soon-to-be city-acquired property. This plan is to work in conjunction with the North End Urban Plan, which establishes guidelines on development in that area and was created in anticipation of these parcels being developable by the city.

“These are the preliminary steps to ensure that we actually have control to help guide this towards the vision that was already built and set forth by the prior council,” Khamsyvoravong said.

Although the resolution passed, it passed with a slim 4-3 majority, with Councilors Lynn Underwood Ceglie, Jeanne Marie Napolitano and David Carlin voting against the proposal. Ceglie was the most vocally against the creation of an ad hoc commission at the City Council’s regular meeting Wednesday night, as she said the City Council has ultimate authority over these parcels. She said the ad hoc committee would slow down the process and limit the council’s input on how the parcels are developed.

“I think there’s going to be a big learning curve for people, particularly those who don’t live in Newport and I believe that we should start off right off the bat with a consultant to help us navigate the state with acquiring the property and possible development ideas,” Ceglie later told The Newport Daily News. “I have a concern that this report they’re going to give us will be a done deal where the council is not going to have much input into the process as we’ll only be getting updates monthly.”

At the meeting, Ceglie also suggested Khamsyvoravong already had people in mind to fill the seven-member commission and the rest of the council would act as a “rubber stamp” on his decisions. She implied at the meeting that Khamsyvoravong held conversations on the topic that the other councilors were not privy to.

“That would be news to me,” Khamsyvoravong later told The Daily News when asked about the implication he had chosen members ahead of time. “What we felt out is whether this community has the type of support and expertise that we want in a commission like this. To that extent, I think there is clarity that exists in our community. I meet and talk with residents and community members all the time, many of which have professional expertise dealing with projects like this both in Rhode Island and out of state and I think it's only responsible that we do some level of outreach so we can tap that expertise for the benefit and advice of the council.”

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According to the resolution, the commission will be made up of seven members with varying levels of expertise and relationships to the city of Newport. The resolution specifies that two of the members will be residents from the North End who have been engaged with the community surrounding the new parcels, three of the members need to be experts in economic development as it relates to the committee's goals while being either residents of Newport, owning property or a business in Newport, or representatives of a business or industry located in Newport and the remaining two need to have direct expertise in managing the acquisition and development of State or Federal property on behalf of a public or quasi-public body.

Members will apply for the commission and be nominated by Khamsyvoravong and approved by the City Council, as per council rules. Khamsyvoravong also noted that if the council wants to move forward later with a consultant instead, they can disband the commission at any time.

Ceglie and Napolitano, the two longest-serving members on the council, said while the nomination process is typically the mayor’s job, councilors have had more input on who the nominees are in the past.

“Well, it also sounds like, also though, in the past, the result that was yielded from that wasn’t always something that is as technically focused as what we’re looking for,” Khamsyvoravong said in response to their objections.

This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Newport North End redevelopment plan debated by City Council