Newport Comprehensive Land Use Plan - Existing Conditions | Page 13

1 Introduction
And meet it is, that over these sea pastures, wide-rolling watery prairies and Potter’s
Fields of all four continents, the waves should rise and fall, and ebb and flow
unceasingly, for here, millions of mixed shades and shadows, drowned dreams,
somnabulisms, reveries, all that we call lives and souls, lie dreaming, dreaming still;
tossing like slumberers in their beds; the ever-rolling waves made so by their
restlessness.
Herman Melville – Moby Dick
Newport is of the sea. It is embedded within and surrounded by the sea. Its beginning as a
colonial settlement and its subsequent evolution are closely tied to the sea. From the protected,
deep harbors of Narragansett Bay, ships can, and do, access every port in the world. From
Newport, hundreds of pleasure craft of every type set out to ply Melville’s “rolling watery
prairies.” In Newport, families seek refuge from the summer heat in the cooling surf, bop to live
music and dine on fresh, local seafood. Newport attracts over 3.5 million visitors each year,
many of them drawn to its extraordinary coast and all that it offers. The sea is the one
inescapable constant in Newport’s life.
And that sea is changing. In the years ahead, Newport will need to manage the impacts and
challenges of rising seas and more frequent and dangerous coastal storms. Fortunately, City
leadership and staff have already begun to evaluate and plan for these challenges, which will
impact almost every subject area addressed in this update to Newport’s Comprehensive Plan.

State Planning Goals and Comprehensive Plan Requirements

Rhode Island is one of only a few States in the U.S. that has adopted a system of planning which
closely ties State, regional and local policies, goals and strategies together into a comprehensive,
long-range program. This integrated and holistic approach helps to avoid or mitigate conflicting
actions, helps citizens prioritize funding, and in general, enhances the ability to accomplish
common objectives. This approach, referred to by state officials as “reciprocal comprehensive
planning,” has been in place in Rhode Island since 1988.
Important amendments were made to the 1988 law in 2011 and this most recent Newport
Comprehensive Plan has been created to meet the requirements of the current law, codified as
Rhode Island General Law (RIGL) 45-22.2 (the “Act”).
The Act mandates that “the goals and policies of the municipal plan shall be consistent with the
goals and intent of this chapter (i.e. RIGL 45-22.2) and shall embody the goals and policies of the
State Guide Plan” (“SGP”) Therefore, Newport’s Plan must address two sets of state goals (i.e.
those in the Act itself and those in the SGP).

Draft Existing Conditions (March 2016)

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