Opinion: It's Time to Preserve Portsmouth

By Nancy Elwell

With persistence and solid facts, small groups of concerned citizens have prevailed and our voices are consistently heard. We are so fortunate to have Attorney Jerry Zelin keeping his eyes on what’s underway in our city.

Two things that are NEVER going to occur: A roof top garden with exotic trees! You have got to be kidding. A winter like this one, with fierce unrelenting winds from the north, will put paid to that stupid idea – a product of Paul Young’s fervent marketer’s mind.

Furthermore, should it happen, there is no way will the public be allowed access to the roof. Liability insurance would never allow it nor would a condo association who will have a loud voice in common area amenities.

Toronto city officials found that out the hard way, giving developers a larger footprint in exchange for the roof garden that never came to fruition for the reasons stated above.

Secondly, There will BE NO little copse along the railroad tracks. Pan Am can’t and won’t allow THAT to happen either. These are Young’s attempts to put lipstick on a pig. It’s a monstrously large building sidling right up to train tracks carrying propane along deteriorating tracks! I have to wonder what the developer of 233 Vaughan St. is thinking now that their $4 million condos are in line to lose their expensive views!

When will the Portsmouth City Council demand to see a detailed letter of commitment from Whole Foods? No other local market is going to come along to operate there as they are conveniently located where all supermarkets ought to be...on the outskirts of town. The A&P and the First National didn’t last long downtown. As has been pointed out, that project was designed to accommodate a casino...period! and the people sitting this one out ought to rethink their non-participation before the state starts looking for a NH site...and Portsmouth is the Prime Spot...

Watch for the Worth Lot to come back into play once Portwalk/Harborcorp snaps up Cabot House, The Page, Shalimar and the Pool hall plus the Coldwell Banker Real Estate Office, corner of Hanover and Maplewood. These ambitious developers MUST have that land for a multi-tiered garage even with the taxpayer paying for a new garage on Gary’s land.

It is at that point when you will see the old switch-a-roo! The city manager, having allowed our downtown to be made into a pseudo urban center of enormous bulk and ugliness, will the idea of satellite parking come to the fore as a brilliant new concept! MAYBE because vehicles can no longer get into town and instead of complaining about parking the tourist won’t be able to get to the new garages.

Thinks of all the money to be made! If anyone thinks they will see their taxes go down, dream on.

If people don’t start making their voices heard, attending meetings and becoming involved this is GOING TO HAPPEN and then it will be way to late to do anything about it. The developers love the non-engagement of the general public and the compliance of the land use boards and the adoration of the Planning Department. We won’t even begin to go into the city attorney’s role in this fiasco. As usual, it’s up to us to make it stop, at least until the Master Plan is completed. The charrettes are solely intended for myth building, everything they suggest is pie in the sky...The Portsmouth Listening Studies? Shelved! The planning department is merely spending our money on promoting fairytales and paying a lot of money to Brian and his family – the consultant cum storyteller

I urge the people of Portsmouth, including the Boston wannabees, to wake up to a living growing threat to all that we know and love...all that makes Portsmouth, PORTSMOUTH!

This kind of greedy cheap development is going on all over the world. No longer do we hear of brilliant architecture...No, we see what I call US routes textbook drafting enhanced by computer trees and people whose depicted height has nothing to do with scale as they jog alongside a 60-story building.

So, friends, it comes down to this simple choice: Do you want have a feeling of pride in your city or will you get more satisfaction going into the Piscataqua Casino and blowing your paycheck shooting craps? It’s your choice but you are making a choice, not just for today, but for future generations!

In conclusion, I urge everyone involved to look at this development as what it is really intended to become. Not just another ugly multi-use/behemoth, rather the very first NEW HAMPSHIRE CASINO. When you start looking at what has been built and what WILL be built this is the obvious goal. Not a Whole Foods, rather a posh restaurant with slots, expensive short-term apartments at every adjacent corner and sleazy Vegas type hotel rooms.

Nancy Elwell has lived in Portsmouth off and on since the late 1960s.