Newport zoning board to hear variance, special exception requests May 20

Newport’s zoning board will weigh two land-use requests that could clarify how strictly the town applies its zoning code to housing and neighborhood change. The board is scheduled to hear both cases May 20 at 6:30 p.m. in the Selectmen’s Room at 15 Sunapee Street.

Steven Dube Jr. and Ashley Dube are seeking a variance to permit a manufactured home on Alexander Avenue, on Map 118 Lot 064-001 in the Single Family (R1) Zoning District. Mitchell Feeney is separately asking for a special exception to permit the reasonable expansion of a non-conforming building at 279 Reeds Mill Road, Map 214 Lot 017, in the Rural (R) Zoning District.

The Dube request goes to the heart of Newport’s manufactured-housing rules. The town’s zoning ordinance says manufactured homes are generally unlawful on private property except in districts specifically zoned for them, in approved manufactured home parks or subdivisions, or on approved sales lots. It also requires manufactured homes to sit on a foundation, with the area between the home and the ground completely enclosed, and says homes within town limits must meet HUD 1976 standards and NC5BCS installation standards dated 1982.

That makes the variance significant for nearby property owners as well as the applicants. If the board grants the request, it could signal a more flexible reading of the ordinance for future manufactured-home proposals in the Single Family district, especially in neighborhoods where residents expect conventional single-family construction. Newport’s zoning board has already seen a similar manufactured-home request, with a July 2025 agenda showing another variance under Article II Section 207.1 to allow a manufactured home in the Single-Family Residential Zone.

Feeney’s application raises a different question. In Newport’s Rural district, the ordinance expressly permits single-family dwellings, including manufactured homes with 600 square feet or more of livable floor space on permanent foundations. But a special exception still requires the board to weigh conditions tied to parking, sewage disposal, neighborhood impact and whether the proposal fits the spirit of the ordinance and the master plan.

Recent zoning board minutes from March 18 show members focused on whether a proposal would be detrimental to the character of the neighborhood, a standard that is likely to matter again when the board reviews these two applications. Newport, the Sullivan County county seat with about 6,500 residents, has made its zoning board one of the town’s central forums for deciding how housing flexibility meets local land-use rules.

The May 20 hearing gives residents a formal chance to see how those standards are applied before the board makes its decision, and the town keeps agendas, minutes and application materials online for follow-up once the hearing is over.