Newburyport Council Approves $1.8 Million Boardwalk Repair and Courts Zoning Change

NEWBURYPORT -- March 2, 2026, Newburyport City Council approves $1.8 million boardwalk repair package and passes courts-and-lanes zoning change in one night. The council unanimously accepted a $1.492 million Seaport Economic Council grant and $285,000 in Community Preservation Committee funds to partially reconstruct the deteriorating waterfront boardwalk, which will use a mix of salvaged hardwood and new composite decking in a project that has not yet gone to bid and carries a 20 percent contingency. Budget and Finance Chair Councilor Zied cautioned that board-reuse quantities are uncertain: "There is absolutely risk. There always is." On a 10-1 vote, the council waived its two-reading ordinance rule to pass Ordinance 213, giving the Planning Board dimensional flexibility in courts-and-lanes subdivisions, in time for a March 4 Planning Board hearing on a contested 18 Highland Avenue subdivision. Councilor Zied voted against waiving the rule but supported the ordinance itself, saying the change "crosses the streams" by assigning dimensional variance authority to the Planning Board rather than the Zoning Board of Appeals. The council also approved a $200,000 CPC appropriation for a Firehouse Center for the Arts elevator replacement, conditioned on a preservation restriction being recorded by year-end 2026.