Portsmouth — Developers of a proposed storage building at the Portsmouth Industrial Park on Highland Point Avenue won planning-board planning approvals but must return to the town’s design-review process after staff and board members identified missing materials and site details.

Court Chapelle, speaking for applicant Spaceport, told the board the project went through the new state-authorized development-plan-review process and received planning-board approval for master and preliminary plans. “It's a little bit cart before the horse,” Chapelle said, describing how the item proceeded to planning first and then was sent to design review for façade, materials and site-fit questions.

The building is intended as private, interior storage for several restaurant businesses owned by Spaceport’s parent group; Chapelle said the roughly 15,000-square-foot structure will contain multiple tenant storage bays under a single ownership umbrella and that “the testimony was that there's no outside storage.” He told the board that the planning board granted a small setback variance (the site is in the town’s Limited Light Industry Park, which has a 50-foot setback standard, while the project aligns with the town’s 30-foot setback used elsewhere) and approved the project unanimously at the planning-board hearing.

Board members and staff said technical-review sign-offs (police, fire, water and public works) are in place, but design-review materials were incomplete. Planning staff and multiple board members said the packet lacked a materials list, a lighting plan, transformer location and mechanical (RTU) screening details. One board member noted the submitted renderings pre-dated revisions to the site that added a fire access road, which in turn expanded required infiltration basins and reduced available landscaped area in front of the building.

Project engineer Tommy Principe outlined site constraints: the parcel is about 2.37 acres, contains wetlands and significant grade change, and required new grading, retention basins and a fire access loop. Chapelle said the fire department insisted a road be installed to allow apparatus to reach multiple sides of the building, which pushed the front basin and reduced the space available for planting. Chapelle also described porous-pavement maintenance requirements and said the team had filed necessary permits and drainage plans.

Planning-board members asked for clearer details on exterior materials, lighting levels and transformer placement; staff asked for a photometric plan and manufacturer specifications for the proposed cladding and fenestration. Chapelle said the design team is still finalizing supplier contracts and that the team had requested a grace period from the building official regarding the 2025 energy-code submission deadline.

No final action was taken at the meeting. The board indicated it would reschedule a design-review session once applicants supply the missing materials. A planning staff member said staff will accept an updated submittal and re-notice the item for a future meeting when the checklist is complete.

What happens next

The applicant will supply the materials requested by planning staff (detailed material schedule, photometric/site-lighting plans, transformer/utility locations, and mechanical screening). Once those items are submitted, staff will place the application on a future design-review agenda and the board will revisit any design issues that could affect the planning approvals or the previously granted variance.

Quotes in context

Court Chapelle, applicant representative: “It's a little bit cart before the horse,” describing why planning review preceded design review for this project.

Court Chapelle: “The testimony was that there's no outside storage,” describing how the building would be used by the applicant’s restaurant subsidiaries.

Ending

The project retains planning-board preliminary approvals and the variance granted by the planning board, but design-review approval is required before the town’s administrative final can be issued. The applicant and planning staff agreed to coordinate a resubmittal and to schedule a follow-up meeting once the complete checklist items are provided.