Committee to Explore Options for Navy Surplus Land Forms Wednesday

A new committee formed to steer the eventual development of Navy surplus land in Portsmouth meets for the first time this week.

The Tank Farm Development Advisory Committee will meet at 6 p.m. on Wednesday night in the Portsmouth Room on the second floor of Portsmouth Town Hall at 2200 East Main Road.

The committee will elect officers, brief the new town administrator on the issue, receive an update on the request for proposals for a consultant, discuss the interest of solar farm developers and “discuss next steps,” according to the agenda.

The land in question is known as Tank Farms 1 and 2 and consists of two parcels totaling 146 acres.

The land was used by the Navy for fuel storage since the 1920 and were decommissioned in the 1990s.

The town has been working to acquire the land since the mid-2000s and an assortment of potential uses have been proposed, including office space, parking lots, light industry, solar arrays and other commercial development.

For an overview and much more detail about the town’s work on the Tank Farms issue, read the story we posted last week.