Here’s our quick debrief of what unfolded at the last City Council meeting:

Council unanimously voted to approve the receipt of a letter on behalf of the owners of Long Wharf Mall to convert a portion of the pedestrian mall into a one-way vehicular travel lane from Washington Square to America’s Cup Avenue.

Boards and Commissions

Affirmative Action

An Affirmative Action Plan RFP for a consultant will be presented at the Wednesday, March 22^nd Council Meeting.

Board of Tax Appeals

It was recommended by the Board of Tax Appeals Chair that the board have alternate members as most of the current members have been on the board for 10+ years. This had been recommended by the Charter Review Commission in 2022 and was opposed by Council. In order to make this revision, as Councilor Carlin had asked during the March 8^th meeting, to Section 4-3 – Board of Tax Appeals in the Charter, the Charter Review Commission would have to be reconvened.

Ordinances

Council unanimously voted to approve the following ordinances:

• Zoning Ordinance – Amending 17.112.030 “Zoning board of review-Composition” regarding Zoning board members and 17.112.040 “Zoning board of review-Powers and duties” to include information on petitions filed prior to and after January 1, 2023.
• Sidewalk Cafes – Amending Chapter 5.98-TBD to include a new section on Street Cafes that would detail street cafés will only be permitted from the intersections of Gould to Farewell Street on Broadway to follow the standards set forth in this chapter and would require a permit. 
• Planning Board – Amending Chapter 2.68.020 Composition-Officers-Compensation-Meetings that would add a statement that petitions filed after January 1, 2023 would require a vote for approval by the majority of the members that are present at the time for application requests on land and subdivision development.

Communications from the City Manager

Council unanimously voted to receive the following items:

• Recommendation from the Finance Department to Council to pass a resolution on the FY2024-2028 Capital Improvement Program to adopt it in concept.
• Recommendation from the Department of Public Services to award the Hillside Avenue Sidewalk and Traffic Calming Improvements Project to LAL Construction Co., Inc.

In a five (5) to two (2) vote, the Council voted to approve the show cause hearing of Harvest Inc for failure to meet the conditions of the Victualing License for operating without a license from 2021-2023. Council gave Harvest Inc until Friday, March 10^th to pay $1,000 in fees to be able to open on Saturday, March 11^th for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade festivities, with the remaining balance of fees incurred to be paid at a later date.

The next Newport City Council meeting will be on Wednesday, March 22, 2023 at 6:30 pm in the Council Chambers on the 2^nd floor of City Hall.