Newport Yachting Center withdraws NOISE variance request!
Click here if you can’t see the image. November 12, 2013 Dear Newport Yachting Center Guests, We want to thank all of our concert guests and supporters who sent letters, made phone-calls and cleared their schedules to attend tomorrow night’s City Council meeting in support of the Sunset Music Series. It is gratifying to hear how important the Sunset Music Series is to all of you. It is clear that our unique waterfront venue has become a part of the fabric of Newport over the last 16 years. However, based on feedback from the City Council, we are making the decision to pull the variance request from tomorrow night’s City Council docket. The reality is that we need to take a step back and allow the City to hold public workshops, during which we will have an opportunity to explain the facts of the variance request and our plans for noise abatement. There is much misinformation circulating right now and it is important that we be able to present the correct information to the residents of Newport. We will need your support in the future; we will call on you again when the time is right to bring this matter before the […]
POLL: #1 Newport: RI’s Best Communities 2013
Surrounded by a sprawling waterfront, Newport was fittingly titled the “Birthplace of the Navy.” Since its establishment as a city, this highly visited community has enjoyed a history of progress and success. In fact, Newport has more standing buildings built before 1830 than any other American community. It offers cruises, excursion boats, city tours, golf, and fishing among other things for visitors making it one of the most desired tourist destinations in the country. http://www.golocalprov.com/news/1-newport-ris-best-communities-2013/ Newport by the numbers Established: 1639 Population: 24,672 Median household income: $58,080 Median housing price: $352,500 2013 Best Communities rankings Overall ranking: 1 Affordability ranking: 38 Education ranking: 35 Economic Condition ranking: 17 Safety ranking: 35 Arts & Culture ranking: 1 Famous residents Benedict Arnold, (governor) of Rhode Island William Coddington, governor of Rhode Island John Clarke, Baptist minister and drafter of the Royal Charter Nicholas Easton, governor of Rhode Island George Berkeley, philosopher Louis Alexandre Berthier, French Army officer, later Marshal of France and Napoleon’s chief of staff William Ellery, signer of the Declaration of Independence Robert Feke, portrait painter Peter Harrison, architect Samuel Hopkins (clergyman), Congregational minister, Calvinist theologian and pioneer leader for abolition of the slave trade Aaron Lopez, prominent merchant Louis-Marie, […]
Survey Question #3 Responses – Do you favor a two-tier property tax system?
ADD your responses below! Or post them on our Facebook page! Share this with your Newport neighbors, tell us what you think! Your voice, your community, your opinion matters! It has been suggested by a City Council member that property taxpayers whose legal residence is in Newport receive a discount on their taxes. Opponents argue that such an arrangement would discourage second home ownership in Newport, which has been a financial boon to the city. Do you favor a two-tier property tax system? 06/03/2013 7581023 [No] The last thing Newport should be doing is discouraging second home ownership. Non-resident owners contribute equally to the cost of Newport’s services while utilizing fewer of those services, benefiting Newport residents. A prime example is the costs of Newport’s schools. 06/05/2013 7607639 [Yes] A tax exemption would be a benefit to our year round residents. Too many homes are “dark” in the offseason, and while we don’t have to pay to educate children in those homes, having vacant homes is damaging the fabric of our community. I’m not sure that seasonal ownership is a financial boon to anyone but the person who sells their house to someone who wants to live here […]
Survey Question #2 Responses – Short Term Rentals?
ADD your responses below! Or post them on our Facebook page! Share this with your Newport neighbors, tell us what you think! Your voice, your community, your opinion matters! The summer season has begun! In spite of the fact that Newport has ordinances in many neighborhoods prohibiting rentals of less than a month, there is a growing “underground” business in Newport rentals of a week or less operated by individual homeowners. Are you in favor of short-term rentals in most of Newport’s neighborhoods? 06/03/2013 7581023 [Yes] Permitting short-term rentals must be combined with better enforcement of regulations reining in excesses of “party houses.” 06/05/2013 7607714 [No] That is what hotels are for 06/06/2013 7610587 [Yes] It’s happening anyway. Might as well go with it. 06/06/2013 7611297 [Yes] why not will bring in more business and taxes 06/06/2013 7611492 [Yes] short term is probably preferable as it involves people who make a short term commitment..not like the horrible tenant you cannot get rid of! The renters of short term are sometimes I assume family friends…or people who know people…what is the reason to not allow it? 06/06/2013 7610965 [Yes] It’s happening everywhere. There are websites dedicated to the rental business and […]
Congratulations! Going Digital @ The Jane Pickens Theater & Event Center!
Successful KickStarter Campaign! 530 Backers – $61,130 pledged of $55,000 goal This project will be funded on Friday Dec 28, 7:28am EST. Keep the JPT: Digital Cinema Challenge Jane Pickens Theater Hollywood is forcing all theaters to upgrade to digital projection as the era of 35mm film comes to an end in early 2013! by Kathy Staab click the link below to read the complete story! http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1220959735/keep-the-jpt-digital-cinema-challenge
Survey Responses Question #2 Broadway Construction
Alliance for a Livable Newport December 2012 Survey Results Survey Name: 3 Questions – 3 Minutes Dec 26, 2012 8:20:14 PM PLEASE COMMENT BELOW! 2. At a recent Newport City Council workshop, the reconstruction and redesign of lower Broadway was presented. Turns out the project will be “long and messy.” An aggressive timetable would complete the work in a little over a year but the Broadway Business District streets would be torn up for the entire summer of 2013. Will it be worth the turmoil in a major commercial district over the busy 2013 summer tourist season to keep within the project timetable? If the project is suspended over the summer months (2013) to permit greater access to businesses and ease traffic congestion the project costs increase and therefore would not be completed until 2014. – Responses Answer 0 Suspend it. 1 I don’t think tourists have found this major commercial district. Rip off the band-aid, fix this area, and be done with it. 2 GET IT DONE! 3 I am in favor of the construction being completed in the shortest amount of time within the current budget. I feel that the city and construction crews can minimize the disruption […]
2012 Newport Elections – Read the Answers to 10 Questions!
ALN has asked 10 important questions of our local candidates in the upcoming 2012 elections for Newport City Council and School Committee. Read how each candidate has responded to these important questions in the following documents shown below! ***Very important that you “comment”, “like” and “share” this information with your friends, family and neighbors in Newport. Anyone can comment below!
March 20 from 5:30-7:00 pm ALN League of Women Voters Workshop
The Alliance for a Livable Newport and the League of Women Voters, Newport County, will host a workshop March 20 from 5:30-7:00 pm at the Newport Public Library, Rotary Room, 300 Spring Street, to discuss the financial impact of Race to the Top and the particulars of the new Rhode Island school funding formula. *Space for this workshop is very limited. The Rotary room at the Newport Public Library will hold two dozen people. Please come early to make sure of a seat. Funding Our Schools-Rhode Island’s Role in Supporting Local Education Until the passage of new legislation in June 2010, Rhode Island was one of only two states that did not use a funding formula to help support local school districts. Rhode Island’s new funding formula has been in place for almost two years, and the state has also received new federal monies as part of the Race to the Top grant. What exactly is a funding formula and what does this all mean to local school districts? Alda Rego, Rhode Island Department of Education‘s Director of Finance, and Kristen Cole, RIDE’s Senior Finance Officer, will explain how Rhode Island’s school funding formula affects local community school funding and […]
