Press Releases/What’s New

The City of Portsmouth continued the second stage of the McIntyre public input process on Tuesday, March 6th, with two panel discussions focused on transportation and parking, and the elements of a public-private partnership.

The McIntyre Blue Ribbon Steering Committee is hosting these in-depth discussions, which dive into topics that citizens have highlighted as important to the future of the Thomas J. McIntyre Federal Building and property.

The City of Portsmouth kicked off the second stage of the McIntyre public input process Monday evening, February 26th, with two panel discussions focused on public realm, urban design, and historic preservation.

The City of Portsmouth’s McIntyre Steering Committee has met and established dates for “Stage 2” steps in the public input process for the future of the McIntyre site. This includes three sessions with the public that will be sponsored by the McIntyre Steering Committee. 

On Thursday, February 22nd at 6:30 p.m. in Council Chambers, the Historic District Commission will be hosting a presentation from the Planning Department to share with the community details of work that has been undertaken to assess the potential risks and impacts from sea level rise and/or coastal flooding on the landscapes, buildings, and structures within Portsmouth’s Historic District.

The City of Portsmouth’s McIntyre Steering Committee has met and established the initial “Stage 1” steps in the public input process for the future of the McIntyre Federal Building site. Two Informational and Idea Gathering Sessions with the public will be sponsored by the McIntyre Steering Committee. The first will be held on Saturday, February 3rd from 9:00 a.m. to noon in City Council Chambers at Portsmouth City Hall, and include dialogue sessions in coordination with Portsmouth Listens. The second will be held on Thursday, February 8th from 6:30 p.m.

The City of Portsmouth is seeking public input on proposed design alternatives for the Maplewood Avenue Downtown Complete Streets Project. The scope of this project is to develop a “complete street” design for Maplewood Avenue between Congress Street and Raynes Avenue. This project is identified as a high priority project in the City’s 2014 Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan and the goals are to enhance the comfort, appeal and safety for all travelers along this approximately ½ mile corridor.

After a successful first season, Portsmouth’s bike-share program, operated by Zagster, Inc., has closed up shop for the winter months. As with the City’s bicycle corrals (on-street bike parking) on Daniel Street and Market Street, the City is “hibernating” the bikes and stations during the winter months to avoid conflicts with snow clearing operations. This will also enable all of the bikes to receive maintenance.

A public input meeting for the Maplewood Avenue Downtown Complete Street Project will be held on Monday, November 13th at 7 p.m. in the School Board Conference Room at City Hall. 

The Portsmouth Planning Department and Planning Board are welcoming public input on the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) for Fiscal Year 2019 to 2024. Residents are asked to submit projects for consideration in the next CIP by Friday, October 13th. The CIP sets forth a 6-year schedule and financing strategy to accomplish necessary public improvements and meet infrastructure needs.

On September 21, 2017, the Planning Board voted to recommend to the City Council for adoption zoning amendments to allow for a mix of residential and nonresidential development in some of the City’s primary corridor areas and to increase the diversity of housing types.

The proposed Gateway Mixed Use District amendments include two new zoning districts: Gateway Corridor Mixed Use (G1) and Gateway Corridor Mixed Use Center (G2) in four primary areas: