Council advances zoning change, adopts committee and fee ordinances and approves fee waiver for public seating

The Portsmouth City Council on March 3 advanced several land-use and administrative items and approved a set of operational motions that the council said will be reflected in forthcoming fee schedules and housing-trust planning.

Key votes at the meeting (votes and formal actions)

- Historic District overlay: The council voted to pass second reading and scheduled a third and final reading on March 17 to remove 185 Orchard Street (Map 152 Lot 2-1) from the Historic District Overlay. Planning Manager Peter Stiff told the council the lot was subdivided in 2023 and now fronts on Orchard Street; both the Planning Board and the Historic District Commission recommended removal. The council approved the motion to advance the ordinance to third reading.

- Sustainability Committee ordinance: The council approved changes to chapter 1, article 4 (section 1.413) to convert housekeeping language, permit one voting student member (while allowing more students to attend), and allow the committee to have up to two co-chairs. The ordinance passed third and final reading during the meeting.

- Adoption of fees ordinance (administrative code): Council passed third and final reading of an amendment to chapter 1 (article 16) establishing procedures for adoption of fees by budget resolution.

- Sidewalk tables and chairs fee waiver: The council voted to eliminate the $75 table fee and $10 per-chair fee under the sidewalk-obstruction ordinance, effective immediately, provided the furniture is open to general public use (not reserved for patrons of a single business). Roll-call results recorded at the meeting were: Assistant Mayor Kelly — abstain; Councilor Taber — yes; Councilor Cook — yes; Councilor Denton — yes; Council Blaylock — no; Councilor Bagley — yes; Councilor Lombardi — yes; Mayor McEachern — no. The motion carried.

- Gateway Neighborhood payment-in-lieu schedule for affordable units: The council approved a payment-in-lieu fee schedule recommended by the Housing Committee (prepared by consultant RKG) to convert unmet on-site affordable-unit obligations into a fee whose proceeds go to the city’s housing trust fund for creation and preservation of below-market housing. The council directed updates to the table in future years as needed.

- Involuntarily merged lots: The council referred a request to restore an involuntarily merged lot at 25 Sims Avenue (Map 0233-0071) to the Planning Board and the city assessor for further review and a report back to council.

- License extension for construction dumpster at 50 South Street, Unit 3: Council authorized the city manager to grant a license extension through May 2, 2025, to accommodate delays in materials delivery; staff reported all departments with review authority had approved the extension.

- Consent agenda and routine motions: The council adopted the consent agenda and placed email correspondence on file.

Why it matters: The actions set administrative procedures (fee adoption), create a payment option to fund affordable housing, and adjust a small parcel’s historic overlay status after Planning Board and HDC review. The sidewalk-fee waiver aims to encourage public seating downtown while retaining permitting and insurance requirements.

Quotes and inputs

- Planning Manager Peter Stiff explained the Orchard Street parcel’s subdivision and said the property owner requested removal after learning the parcel was included in the HDC while other lots on Orchard are not.

- Councilors debating the sidewalk-fee waiver split on revenue and placemaking: proponents said public seating increases downtown vitality; opponents warned of slowly eroding fee revenue and urged careful monitoring.

Next steps and implementation

- The historic-district removal will return for third and final reading on March 17.

- Fee schedule and payment-in-lieu guidance will be updated on a regular basis and proceeds directed to the city’s housing trust fund for affordable-housing creation and preservation.

- The Planning Board and assessor will report back to the council on the involuntarily merged-lot petition.

Votes at a glance (selected items)

- 185 Orchard St. (historic overlay removal): motion to pass second reading and schedule third reading — approved (no detailed roll call recorded in transcript at time of passage).

- Sustainability committee ordinance (section 1.413): passed third reading — approved unanimous.

- Administrative fees ordinance (article 16): passed third reading — approved.

- Sidewalk tables/chairs fee waiver (chapter 9, article 5 §504(c)): passed; roll call recorded (Yes: Taber, Cook, Denton, Bagley, Lombardi. No: Blaylock, McEachern. Abstain: Assistant Mayor Kelly).