Newport News City Council hears comprehensive plan update for 2045
Also, disparity study reveals substantial gaps in minority and woman-owned business contracts
Newport News City Council recently received presentations at a work session held June 26 regarding the city’s comprehensive plan update and a disparity study that found significant underutilization of minority and woman-owned businesses in city contracting. The comprehensive plan, which guides land use and development decisions, is undergoing its required five-year review with a public hearing scheduled for July 14. The disparity study, conducted by BBC Research and Consulting over a five-year period analyzing $814 million in contracts, revealed that minority-owned businesses received just 12 cents for every dollar of expected availability, while white woman-owned businesses received 33 cents per dollar. The analysis examined city contracting from July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2024 and found substantial disparities across all contract types.
Click to view the meeting agenda packet with the Comprehensive Plan update
The comprehensive plan update reflects changes since the city adopted its current plan, One City One Future 2040, in 2018. The Code of Virginia requires localities to review their comprehensive plans every five years, and the Department of Planning determined updates were needed to reflect growth patterns, infrastructure needs and community priorities. The update process included 28 meetings with businesses, residents, nonprofit organizations and external stakeholders, along with 21 interdepartmental meetings and 12 public workshops. Planning staff used questions from the 2018 survey in a 2024 survey to measure how citizen input and perspectives changed over time.
The updated plan evaluates land use designations for offices and places of worship to create opportunities for higher density residential development while preserving existing zoning and property owner rights. The plan also revises planning opportunity areas to reflect completed planning efforts and identifies further work over the next 20 years. A council member questioned whether the plan adequately addresses the need to replace 17,000 homes and build 4,000 new units identified in a recent housing study. The zoning administrator explained that the comprehensive plan is a living document reviewed every five years, and the city can initiate text amendments without cost to property owners when changes are needed. The comprehensive plan presentation is available beginning at 30:40.
Click to view the meeting agenda packet with the Disparity Study
The disparity study found that only 3.4 percent of city dollars went to white woman-owned businesses despite 10.4 percent availability, and just 1.8 percent went to minority-owned businesses against 14.9 percent availability. Disparities below 80 cents on the dollar indicate substantial underutilization and have been accepted by courts as inference of discrimination, according to the presenter. Black American-owned businesses received 1 percent of contracts with 5.2 percent availability, Hispanic-owned businesses received 0.5 percent with 2.8 percent availability, and Asian-Pacific owned businesses received 0.2 percent with 4.6 percent availability. Key recommendations include developing a small business program with tiered certification, introducing contracting goals for minority and woman-owned businesses, and implementing measures such as contract unbundling and mentor-protege programs. The mayor noted that three years ago on the campaign trail, residents said Newport News either gives a slow no or is extremely hard to do business with, calling the study an opportunity to address those concerns. The disparity study presentation is available beginning at 4:14.
The council approved contingency fund appropriations for several community organizations. The appropriations included $2,500 for the Dory Miller youth football and cheer program, $5,000 for the Dembi Lions Club, $7,500 for InTouch Community Development nonprofit, and $15,000 for the people MOS Inc Family Takeover at Todd Stadium. A council member indicated that additional funding would go to the Walk and Ward Foundation and the Peninsula Agency on Aging. The director of finance explained that the governance work group for the disparity study recommendations will include finance, purchasing, the city attorney’s office and economic development. Early actions in the first six months focus on establishing a contracting program and setting aspirational goals beginning with self-certification and data collection, while mid-range actions in months four through nine include unbundling large contracts and setting subcontracting goals. Later actions in months six through twelve bring online a tiered small business program, mentor-protege program and staffing and software needs. The council contingency fund appropriations passed 7-0 beginning at 47:32.
The council voted to enter closed session to discuss prospective business expansion. The motion was made pursuant to section 2.2-3711 subsection 5 for discussion concerning a prospective business or industry expansion in the central district of the city. The closed session motion passed 7-0 beginning at 1:07:34.
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