In the recent “discussions” surrounding Jayne Begala’s resignation from the City’s Planning Board, the tone of the conversation about her departure quickly deteriorated into blame and shame as printed in the Portsmouth Herald article.
Talk about shooting the messenger!
How are we, as adults, ever going to seize opportunities to improve the City-wide communication when this is the defensive and holier than thou response from City officials?
This is a chance, presented on a silver platter, to examine the City’s errors and seek better outcomes. It’s time to be adults.
Valid Comments and Criticisms
Ms. Begala had many important points to make in her resignation letter. Keep in mind that she had served 5 years on the Planning Board. The City needs to take seriously her points of view, steeped as they are in experience and observation.
According to her statement, she pushed for “updated data and analysis regarding housing, parking and growth patterns over and over and served on the Master Plan Subcommittee.” She doesn’t sound like someone uninvolved with the process in spite of what City officials might want to portray.
She states that the role of the Planning Board has been diminished by the City Council, making it “a totally ineffective, almost powerless body that, while approving site plans and Conditional Use Permits (CUPs) and variances, performs no useful role in planning, shaping or controlling development in Portsmouth.”
This sounds as though the power that once resided in the Planning Board has been eviscerated. Begala states “the Board is led by a weak and ineffectual chair who apparently takes his marching orders from City Hall. He apparently attends numerous weekly meetings with City staff, and comes to Planning Board meetings to “report” foregone conclusions decided in a far from transparent manner by staff and the City Council.”
The City would seem to have its antennae tuned to the needs of developers who request and receive special treatment approved by the City and delivered through a pliant Planning Board. Begala states that the Planning Board has a statutory obligation to update the Master Plan (NH RSA 674:1, II) in a timely fashion. In so doing, the Planning Board would be empowered to guide Planning Board decisions. By developing and possessing a stiffened spine, the Planning Board could reclaim its power from the City Hall.
It is clear that the new Master Plan has been bogged down by City Hall control. The new Plan becomes critical for bringing back balance into the planning process.
The Need to Assess Current Failures and Update the Master Plan for 2035
Let’s look at how the City has not met some of the objectives set out in the existing Portsmouth 2025 Master Plan (approved by the City Council on February 16, 2017). This review can be helpful for determining how we can be successful in the coming years implementing the new Master Plan.
Here are four examples of how recommendations in the current master plan were and continue to be ignored:
1) North End Build Out. See page 110 of the existing Master Plan, reproduced below for convenience:
City of Portsmouth – Portsmouth 2025 Master Plan – Page 110-111 – Created with Publitas.com
The master plan and the City Council expected the Planning Department, the HDC, the ZBA and Planning Board to work together to see that the North End was to look something similar to the concept sketch on page 110. We note that this never happened. It represents a complete Planning Department and City Land Use Boards failure. We see it as a capitulation to developers.
2) Redevelopment of Gosling Meadows. See page 67 of the existing Master Plan.
City of Portsmouth – Portsmouth 2025 Master Plan – Page 66-67 – Created with Publitas.com
“The Portsmouth Housing Authority (PHA) has partnered with the Workforce Housing Coalition in an effort to transform Gosling Meadows into a mixed-use, mixed income development. The City should support the PHA to promote and incentivize appropriate redevelopment at Gosling Meadows and other public housing sites”
The City and PHA for some reason abandoned their plans to redevelop Gosling Meadows. What happened?
3) Reconstruct US 1 By-Pass to a more neighborhood friendly 2 -way, single lane undivided highway. See pages 44 and 45 of the existing Master Plan.
“The crash barriers should be removed, and the area should be reintegrated into the surrounding residential neighborhoods with additional at grade cross streets…. Appropriate zoning and site design standards should be designed and implemented to create human scale corridor and with an active street edge, shared parking provisions and bicycle and pedestrian amenities”
City of Portsmouth – Portsmouth 2025 Master Plan – Page 44-45 – Created with Publitas.com
This never took place. Why? What happened?
4) Enact policies and zoning to make Portsmouth less reliant on tourism. See page 24 of the existing master plan.
“The Study Circles described the need for diversity in the form of mixed-use neighborhood zoning, housing that meets the needs of all ages and incomes, and less reliance on tourism as an economic driver.”
City of Portsmouth – Portsmouth 2025 Master Plan – Page 24-25 – Created with Publitas.com
This never took place. Why? What happened?
If It Was Important Enough to Include in the 2025 Master Plan …
The Master Plan is an essential guiding document for the City, its Planning Department, its Planning Board and other Land Use boards. It defines responsibilities and authorities.
A reasonable and conscientious effort to create the next Master Plan should look at successes and failures of the last Plan. What was done well? Where did the City fail?
Exit the Clowns
Adults should welcome such discussions. We don’t have time to waste by accusing each other. Step up and do your job.
Stop the blame and shame, Mayor McEachern. Grow up, City Manager Conard, and graciously accept dissent and differences of opinion. Planning Board Chair Chellman, lead from the positive. Stop the negative. The attitudes these officials expressed suggest that they should look in the mirror to find where the City planning problems reside.
