Newburyport Panel Withdraws Ordinance 218, Sets Five Workshops Before Zoning Vote

NEWBURYPORT -- April 30, 2026, Newburyport's Planning and Development Subcommittee voted unanimously to withdraw Ordinance 218 and extend deliberations on the broader Ordinance 221 through a five-workshop series, with a joint public hearing set for July 15. Chair Ben Harmon outlined the workshops, spanning housing needs, dimensional requirements, floor area ratio, by-right versus special-permit permitting, and district boundary questions, before a revised zoning amendment will be presented to the Planning Board. Co-sponsors Lisa Medina Smith and Sarah Hall endorsed the slower pace while defending the urgency: one sponsor said nearly a dozen modest mid-century homes have been torn down over seven years and replaced by houses "two to three times as large." The Planning Board and the subcommittee each voted unanimously to close their respective public hearings on Ordinance 218, leaving Ordinance 221's joint public hearing open until July 15.