“I’ve never heard of something like this, where the developer writes the ordinance for the municipality to allow the development,” said Barbara van Beuren, an architect and managing partner of Anbau, a real estate development firm in New York City, and a member of the influential van Beuren family of Aquidneck Island.

NEWPORT — The city has a vision of an innovation district with mixed-use development in the city’s North End, but never created the zoning ordinance that would allow that goal to be realized.

The Carpionato Group, which owns the 23.5-acre Newport Grand property, is trying to fill the breach with a zoning ordinance proposal that it presented to the city Planning Board Monday night. Given the comments from board members and the public during the hearing, the company has an uphill battle ahead.

“I’ve never heard of something like this, where the developer writes the ordinance for the municipality to allow the development,” said Barbara van Beuren, an architect and managing partner of Anbau, a real estate development firm in New York City, and a member of the influential van Beuren family of Aquidneck Island.

The Newport Grand property that fronts Admiral Kalbfus Road in the North End is in a commercial industrial zone. Under current zoning, Carpionato could build – by right – just hotels there, or business offices, or corporate plants, but it cannot have all these uses along with retail and residential units, attorney David Martland, representing Carpionato, told the board.

Kelly MacArthur Coates, the president and CEO of Carpionato Group, opened the hearing by presenting a video of what his firm envisions for the property: a site where people "can live, work and play," as Coates put it. There were scenes of people in outdoor seating at cafes and restaurants, fountains, a tree-lined boulevard, car-charging stations, and buildings designed in New England motifs like shingle-style exteriors.

The property would feature two six-story hotels totaling 260 rooms, two six-story apartment buildings and 164,000 square feet of “innovative research and office space, as well as medical, retail and restaurant space,” according to the company.

Martland, Coates and other Carpionato representatives all made it clear they were not presenting detailed development plans, only a general vision of what they would like to create. But they need the zoning structure to allow any detailed planning to move forward, they said.

They pointed out the city’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan approved in 2017 calls for the “use of flexible zoning techniques including floating zoning to provide for mixed use development.” They presented a nine-page proposed amendment that would create a zoning overlay district for commercial-industrial properties of 20 acres or more, not just for their property.

Such a district would “allow an appropriate mix of residential, commercial, business, retail, medical, recreational, technology, educational, defense, community, entertainment, and other uses in a single development in the Commercial-Industrial District …,” the draft ordinance says.

Peter Lapolla, who served for many years as planning director in communities such as Cranston and Braintree, Massachusetts, presented a long report showing how the mixed-use development ordinance is consistent with the city’s land use plan.

The city is hoping up to 40 acres of land in the North End will be opened for economic development when the Pell Bridge ramps are redesigned, and that technology companies can be attracted to locate there. Such companies need amenities like nearby apartments and hotels for staff and visitors, Carpionato representatives told board members.

“National tech companies look for this kind of environment and amenities package,” Martland said.

Planning Board member Jeff Brooks said that the goal is an innovation district in a much larger area of the North End and he would like to see zoning for the whole district, not one property.

Martland said Carpionato was concentrating only on commercial-industrial parcels of 20 acres or more.

“Drafting a plan for the entire North End goes beyond what should be demanded of my client,” he said.

Van Beuren and Ron Fleming, an urban planning professional, called on the board to hire a consultant national design firm to first create a master plan for the north end, working with city officials and a local task force, and then create the zoning.

Martland said Carpionato is proposing to replace a “beast of a building” — the vacant Newport Slots parlor — “which is by far the ugliest building on the island,” with an attractive development.

“You can’t lose the good in search of the perfect,” Coates said.

William Lucey, who was at the Newport Daily News for 35 years including his years as publisher, said he looked at the building all those years when the newspaper offices overlooked Newport Grand from Malbone Road and he supported the plans to replace it.

"This is the first step and we should take it," he said. "I have great faith in this group."

Newport resident Rex Lebeau said he would like to see the developer be required to enter a “community benefit agreement,” that provide resources to the community such as a local hiring preference. He also wanted to see better public transit, bicycle and pedestrian connectivity of the development with the rest of the community.

Jean Reisman, who works with the Newport Health Equity Zone team, said she was concerned about the impact such a development could have on affordable housing. She also called for a community benefit agreement that is a “legally enforceable document.”

“I’d like to see a community center and training center for workers,” said Phyllis Mulligan, a city resident.

Irene Lafaille, a city resident with appraisal experience, called on Carpionato and the board to look to Boston’s development of the Seaport District and Tremont Street for inspiration. She said Carpionato is relying too heavily on retail at a time when Amazon and other online retailers are causing brick-and-mortar stores to close and remain vacant.

In calling for a master plan, Fleming said there could be other uses for the property, such as a regional high school or for more housing – “a sustainable neighborhood near the bridge.”

The proposed zoning overlay would allow buildings up to 90 feet, but “the 90-foot height is going to be a problem for all of us,” said Planning Board member Liam Barry.

“The existing building is 87 feet high,” Martland responded. “The proposal is in keeping with what is there currently.”

“I’d like to see a full traffic analysis, pre- and post-bridge ramp replacement,” said Planning Board member Paul Marshall.

Once the zoning is in place, Carpionato would return to the Planning Board with a master plan for the property with details like a connection to a proposed bike path and environmental and traffic studies, Martland said.

Planning Board Chairwoman Kim Salerno asked City Planner Peter Friedrich and other city staff to prepare recommendations and comments to the board before the next meeting in City Hall on Aug. 21, beginning at 6:30 p.m.

sflynn@newportri.com