The Middletown Town Council voted down all three zoning measures needed to advance a proposed hotel development on West Main Road at its meeting Tuesday, July 14, 2026, according to the Middletown Other Committee's published meeting recording.
The council took up three linked items in their second reading: an amendment to the town's comprehensive community plan, an amendment to the official zoning map, and a new zoning overlay ordinance covering four lots at the corner of West Main Road and Coddington Highway, near the town's recreational complex. All three needed to pass for the project to move forward, according to the town solicitor, who told the council that if the measures failed, "the process ends here."
Each measure failed on a voice vote, with council members Christopher M. Logan, Dennis B. Turano, Barbara A. VonVillas and Council President Paul M. Rodrigues opposing, and Vice President Thomas P. Welch III and Councilor Charlie Roberts in favor. Councilor Peter D. Connerton's position was not clearly stated in the recording.
The proposal, brought by attorney Girard Galvin on behalf of developer MCTC LLC, had been scaled back substantially from an original concept that dated to a 2021 request for information from the town. The original plan called for a mix of a hotel, roughly 150 apartment units, retail and municipal space across about 15 acres of town-owned land near West Main Road and Coddington Highway. After planning board review and years of public hearings, the developer's revised proposal reduced the project to a single four-story hotel on about 3.2 acres — the former Navy Lodge site — while leaving Pottsy Field and roughly 6.7 acres to the north under town control. The developer's planner, Paige R. Bronk, testified that the town's comprehensive plan has for years called for redeveloping the site as a mixed-use center, and the developer estimated the hotel would generate about $850,000 a year in ground-lease and tax revenue, growing over time.
Dozens of residents spoke against the proposal during a lengthy public comment period, many objecting to a hotel replacing what had been envisioned as a town commons with housing, retail and green space. Several speakers argued the project had changed so much from what the planning board reviewed that it should go back through a new planning board process; others raised concerns about traffic, the future of Pottsy Field — a softball field named for a fallen local service member — and whether the town's initial request-for-information process should have led to a competitive request for proposals. Supporters, including area hotel employees and a family that operates several Middletown hotels, argued the project would generate steady tax revenue and support year-round jobs, and cited demand for extended-stay lodging tied to Naval Station Newport.
Council members were divided in their explanations. Welch and Roberts said they continued to support the hotel and the revenue it would bring the town, noting the project had gone through years of planning board and public review. Logan, Turano, VonVillas and Rodrigues said the project had changed too much from what residents and the planning board originally reviewed — particularly after housing components were dropped — and said the corner parcel should be rezoned separately or the whole approach reconsidered. Turano suggested tabling the matter and asking the community again what it wants to see there; Logan said he would support hotel zoning on the single parcel alone but not an overlay covering Pottsy Field and the northern lots.
With the measures defeated, the zoning overlay process for this specific proposal is over, according to the solicitor's explanation to the council. Council members said they expect the matter to return to the community and the planning board for further discussion, though no specific date for renewed proceedings was set at the meeting.