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Commission to seek public hearing on narrow-lot zoning amendment setting 3-foot interior side yard
Summary
Staff recommended initiating Z-26-02, a citywide amendment to create objective by-right standards for legally established narrow lots (<=30 ft wide or <=3,000 sq ft) in UR, URM and NMU zones; the commission voted to send the amendment to public hearing Sept. 1.
The Portsmouth Planning Commission authorized staff Aug. 4 to prepare a public hearing for Z-26-02, a zoning text amendment that would replace a narrow-lot special-exception pathway with objective "by-right" development standards for qualifying lots. Senior planner Ali Reza Farfoniki told the commission the proposal would allow detached single-family dwellings on legally established narrow lots if they meet objective dimensional standards, including a proposed minimum 3-foot interior side yard, while retaining all street setbacks and other building, engineering and life-safety rules.
Farfoniki said the change is procedural — it changes the review path rather than the land-use category — and noted staff records show 75 special-exception or related application records reviewed from 2023 through 2025. "I want to be clear, but by right does not mean automatic approval," Farfoniki told commissioners, stressing that planning, engineering and building reviews would remain. Commissioners raised aesthetic and safety questions including whether closer building spacing could affect fire response; staff said required surveys and applicable fire-rating code requirements will be enforced during permit review. The commission voted 7–0 to forward the amendment to a public hearing on Sept. 1.
