Development standards
The following shall be the minimum development standards for all developments within an IHF Overlay Zone. The development standards as set forth in Chapter 17.100 of this chapter shall not apply within an IHF Overlay Zone. Improvements shall be made in accordance with the NEUP Design Guidelines, as approved and incorporated into the Comprehensive Plan.
Waivers from the requirements of development standards or from subdivision and land development regulations may be granted by the planning board as may be reasonable where the literal enforcement of the provisions of the regulations is impracticable, will exact undue hardship or when such waiver is in the interest of good planning and/or design and consistent with the Comprehensive Plan.
A. Architecture and Site Design. Newport is an international destination renowned for its sense of place. The Innovation Hub is a coordinated, community-driven effort to create a 21 st century neighborhood to drive Newport's future economic growth. The Innovation Hub Floating Overlay Zone provides flexible development opportunities within this zone. Architects hold an elevated role in achieving this vision. Project architects shall feature prominently in shaping the overall design of a development and presenting it to the city for review. Conversations regarding other design elements will rely on the project architect's expertise, as well, in establishing a unified design that achieves the goals of this section, chapter, and the NEUP. Designs shall show awareness of Newport's incredible legacy of architectural achievement without being overly referential to community motifs inconsistent with the goals of this section, chapter, and the NEUP.
Architects within the community are design experts in their own right, however critiques of proposed developments' design, provided as public comment on a project under review offered as expert testimony, should focus on the design's achievement of the goals of this section, chapter, and the NEUP. All architectural designs presented in a land development project shall be in accordance with these goals and shall be subject to review and approval by the planning board, to ensure an elevated standard of building, site and landscape design.
Developments shall be designed in accordance with the NEUP and the NEUP Design Guidelines and encourage a density of buildings and activities, fluid mobility, and discourage sprawling low-rise development with an emphasis on parking.
The development shall:
1. Provide an outstanding standard of building, site and landscape design.
2. Site buildings close to a street edge.
3. Provide for active and public uses on the ground floor, with windows that provide adequate and appropriate visual access to the interior commercial and activity areas.
4. Provide for parking away from the street, to the interior of the site.
5. Utilize shared parking whenever possible to reduce the number of parking spaces and impervious surface.
6. Incorporate low impact development site practices, even on higher elevation sites, to reduce stormwater runoff and improve water quality.
7. Incorporate complete streets and multimodal transportation options, with emphasis on the pedestrian experience.
8. Comply with Newport Code of Ordinances Section 12.04.050 Green and Complete Streets effective upon passage of this section.
9. Wherever reasonably possible include green features and/or green spaces, such as:
(i) A "park," meaning a natural preserve available for unstructured recreation, with its landscape consisting of paths and trails, meadows, waterbodies, woodlands, and/or open shelters, all naturalistically disposed, and may be lineal, following the trajectories of natural corridors;
(ii) A "green," meaning an open green space available for unstructured recreation consisting of lawn and trees, naturalistically disposed;
(iii) A "square," meaning an open green space available for unstructured recreation and civic purposes with its landscape consisting of paths, lawns, and trees, formally disposed;
(iv) A "plaza," meaning an open space available for civic purposes with its landscape consisting of pavement or stone work, with trees being optional, preferably located at the intersection of important streets;
(v) A "playground," meaning an open green space designed and equipped for the recreation of children which shall be fenced and may include an open shelter.
B. Parking. All developments shall sufficiently and safely meet internal parking and loading needs. This shall be confirmed by a licensed professional engineer experienced in traffic circulation and smart growth, and accreditation in new urbanism is highly recommended.
If, in the course of operations, the city deems additional parking to be necessary to preserve the safety and flow of traffic in the area, additional parking shall be provided to meet this requirement. The development may provide parking to offsite development, or rely on offsite parking, provided sufficient alternative transportation infrastructure or safe pedestrian access between the sites is provided. Parking areas shall be located within reasonable proximity to the uses they are intended to serve. Parking spaces may not front any street.
Surface parking for more than seventy-five (75) cars within the project area is prohibited, unless approved as a component of the approved land development project plan.
Sufficient electric vehicle charging spaces shall be provided.
All developments shall provide safe and accessible parking areas for bicycles and other two wheeled vehicles
C. Open Space. All developments in the IHF Overlay Zone shall include provisions for a minimum of five percent of the lot area or parcel area for publicly accessible open space. Where open space is required, it shall be owned in accordance with the provisions of RIGL 45-24-47(d). If the open space is privately owned, a restriction shall be recorded that the land will be kept in the authorized condition and shall not built upon.
Off-site Aggregation of Open Space. The open space requirement may be met by providing for the required space off-site if and only if the planning board makes an affirmative finding that the off-site location creates greater public value than reasonable on-site options.
D. Workforce Housing. Any request for dimensional relief that directly or indirectly accommodates an increase in workforce housing units shall be considered in the following context:
(1) Displacement is a hardship more than a mere inconvenience.
(2) The cost to create income limited housing units is a hardship more than a mere inconvenience.
(3) The creation of income limited housing is not primarily for financial gain.
(4) Dimensional relief that accommodates an increase in workforce housing units without imposing material negative externalities on immediate abutters may qualify as the least.
(Ord. 2021-25, § 1, 9-8-2021; Ord. No. 2022-13, § 3, 5-11-2022)