Good morning, Newport! 👋  Today is Tuesday, Sept. 16, the 259th day of 2025. There are 106 days left in the year.

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Middletown Center Development Project Heads to Public Hearing Tuesday (Credit: Town of Middletown)

The Town Council will hold a public hearing Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the Middletown High School cafetorium to consider proposed zoning amendments for the long-planned Middletown Center development project.

The hearing focuses on the redevelopment of a 15-acre town-owned property at West Main Street and Coddington Avenue. The project has been in development since 2022 when the Town Council selected a developer team through a request for information process to create what they dubbed the “Middletown Center” concept.

Following extensive public input and Planning Board review over the past three years, the town and development team reached a development agreement in 2024. The agreement includes a framework for a long-term lease of the property and authorizes the developer to proceed with work needed for a formal development application.

The proposed amendments would modify both the town’s future land use map in the comprehensive plan and zoning ordinances to allow the redevelopment to move forward. If approved, the developer would then prepare detailed plans and begin the formal process to seek Planning Board approval for the development project.

The meeting will be held at Middletown High School’s cafetorium, located at 130 Valley Road. More information about the project is available at https://mdl.town/MC-Planning.

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📅 What’s Up Today

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Cruise Ship Schedule

  • Thursday, September 18: Caribbean Princess
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Ryan Belmore is the owner and publisher of What's Up Newp. He took over the publication in 2012 and has grown it into a three-time Rhode Island Monthly Best Local News Blog (2018, 2019, 2020). He was named LION Publishers Member of the Year in 2020 and received the Dominique Award from the Arts & Cultural Society of Newport County the same year. He has been awarded grants for investigative and community journalism, and continues to coach and mentor new local news publications nationwide. Ryan...