By BOB MARTIN
Eagle Times Staff
NEWPORT, N.H. — The Newport planning board conditionally approved a new 20-lot single-family subdivision on Elm Street, and town officials say that they are awaiting water flow data before it can move forward per fire code.
While there are conditions that still need to be met, developer Jim Morgan said it is going to provide high-quality housing for residents of Newport to be proud of.
“We are looking into creating a subdivision that is going to cater toward first-time homebuyers and retirees,” Morgan said of the subdivision located at 146 Elm Street. “We are going to have a garden theme because it is next door to Kathan Gardens. We are trying to build a family, walkable, nice little gardening type development that people can afford.”
Morgan said the homes will be going for about $400,000 each, and they are trying to be as affordable as possible given the “tariffs and everything else going on.”
According to a prepared statement by the property owner JFD Realty, Inc., of which Morgan is president, these will be homes that are for those who want to “live in a new home built with quality and affordability in mind.” These will be energy efficient, and in a neighborhood that has pickleball and other recreational activities.
“Newport is an incredible town with great opportunities and we’re looking forward to building something community minded and neighborhood enhancing,” Morgan said.
The Planning Board conditionally approved the subdivision on April 23, and Morgan said that there just needs to be one test of water flow before they get started.
“It’s just a question of which direction we are going to run a water loop, and once we determine that we will have our final sign off on the 25th,” Morgan said referring to the May 25 planning board meeting. “But it has been approved by the planning board.”
Morgan explained to the board that they came before the board with a conceptual design about three months ago, which had 22 lots. This was decreased by two lots because they decided not to use any sort of access off of Fourth Street. The original plan had a cul-de-sac, but Morgan said it was determined that this took away what they were trying to create. This resulted in lot sizes being slightly bigger at a half-acre, and a “little bit bigger house.”
“What we decided to do was make these lots a little bit bigger and give a little buffer to Fourth Street and just use the existing road that we have,” Morgan said.
At the planning board meeting the main focus was about the water loop, which is a cost to the developer of $160,000 and adheres to the conditions by Department of Public Works. He said they will be cutting into Elm Street about 50 feet and connecting the water loop into the Fourth Street connection. This will give pressure to help with future development in town, he said.
The other option was a $270,000 job and Morgan said unless the town wants to pick up that option, it wasn’t on the table.
“It achieves the exact same thing that the water department wanted, which was to bring extra pressure down Fourth Street,” Morgan said. “It also allows us to tie in here, which gives us the pressure we need for this development.”
Town Planner Christina Donovan was in contact with the fire department and public works department about the water loop, and she said there are still concerns about the pressure for the hydrants with the loop they have proposed.
“They’re working on coming up with some kind of computer-generated simulation of what the pressure would be based on how they’re constructing it,” Donovan said in a phone interview.
Chief Steve Yannuzzi said his department is waiting for those hydraulic calculations to figure out what water flow is available.
“They’re going to either do a water flow or computer model of what it would be up there, because right now the last hydrant is on Elm Street,” Yannuzzi said. “That line ends.”
The conditional approval that was unanimously voted on by the planning board included the water line loop to be approved, as well as the addition of hydrants and sidewalks in the plans. But Yannuzzi said this is getting ahead of things.
“We don’t know what the water flow is up there,” Yannuzzi said. “That loop that they have proposed only loops two properties out of the 20.”
Yannuzzi said the other 18 properties would be on a “dead end water main.” He said FPA Fire Code 1 says there needs to be 1,000 gallons of water flowing per minute.
“Until they can figure out a hydraulic calculation, and they can tell me what the flow would be out of the furthest hydrant at the entrance to the subdivision, we can’t move forward because we don’t even have the data,” Yannuzzi said.
Morgan explained that the municipality doesn’t have a lot of infrastructure for water, and while “not fair,” they are relying on developers to pay for it. If the pressures work, he has plans to move through another property he owns to make the connection this way.
“If the water flow numbers work, the town is obliged to allow us to go in that direction,” Morgan said. “What we’re going to do is a model to provide that data, and if data comes in under 1,000, we’ll do a model the town wants to go. If they are the same, we are going to have a discussion.”
He added, “Either way, once the water loop issue is worked out, the plan is approved and we’re going to move forward.”
Donovan said the plans are “absolutely great,” and the hope is that Morgan can move forward with the project after providing the numbers for the project.
“This project will hopefully go through because I think it will be a very nice neighborhood, a great neighborhood,” Donovan said.
Morgan said they are in the process of bidding out the site work and construction is expected to start sometime in 2026.
