I want to minimize disruption to the functional body that is the West Side Development Advisory Committee.”

Leonard Katzman, Portsmouth Town Council

PORTSMOUTH — After one member said he wanted to reconsider his earlier decision, the Town Council Monday night unanimously to decrease the size of the West Side Development Advisory Committee from 11 members to nine.

The panel acts in an advisory capacity regarding the waterfront district and land to be disposed by the U.S. Navy, including the former tank farms. (The panel was formerly known as the Tank Farm Development Advisory Committee before its role was expanded.)

The property that falls under the committee’s scope is bound on the north by the Mt. Hope Bridge, on the east by Bristol Ferry and West Main roads, on the south by the Middletown town line and on the west by the Narragansett Bay shoreline.

Monday’s action came only two weeks after the council voted 4-3 to increase the original membership of seven volunteers to 11. Voting in the majority at the April 8 meeting were Council President Kevin Aguiar and council members Leonard Katzman, Andrew Kelly and Keith Hamilton. Council Vice President Linda Ujifusa and council members Daniela Abbott and J. Mark Ryan cast dissenting votes. 

On Monday, however, Mr. Katzman said he had a change in heart after the April 8 meeting. While he has supported committees with large numbers in the past, in those cases the membership had been set at the time of the panels’ formation, he said.

This case was different, he said, because the west side panel has had seven members for years. Increasing the membership by too much could disrupt the group’s dynamic and functionality, Mr. Katzman said he came to realize after the April 8 vote.

“I want to minimize disruption to the functional body that is the West Side Development Advisory Committee,” said Mr. Katzman, who then made a motion to set the size of the panel at nine members.

Arguing for more voices

Several residents, however, reiterated their arguments at the April 8 meeting: The more members on the panel, the more citizen representation and diversity of opinion.

Tom Grieb, a member of the town’s Harbor Commission, said it was “more important for residents to have adequate input on the development plans” for the town’s west side than worry about whether new members would throw the committee’s equilibrium off. Mr. Grieb added if he were asked to expand the membership of the Harbor Commission, he would promptly do so.

He also said the current west side panel has not been transparent, and charged it once held an entire meeting in executive session “to keep the public in the dark” and didn’t meet again until nine months later.

Another resident, David Reise, said the Conservation Commission recently welcomed new members with fresh eyes who have offered valuable input. The west side committee could benefit from the same, he said.

Peter Roberts told the council he supported the original vote to expand membership to 11. “It does seem like you’re trying to keep people from finding out what’s going on,” he said.

Robert Andrews, chairman of the west side panel, disagreed. “There’s nothing we’re trying to hide from anyone. The public is invited to all of our meetings,” said Mr. Andrews, who supported decreasing membership to nine.

Council member Keith Hamilton said while he’d prefer keeping the committee at 11 members, he was willing to support the motion for nine members. 

“As long as we’re not going back to seven, I think it’s OK. I think new eyes and thought processes are good,” he said.

Mr. Hamilton added that the property redistribution from the Navy probably won’t happen “for five, 10, 15, 30 years,” so the committee’s size isn’t the most pressing issue at this time.

Mr. Katzman agreed, saying the council could certainly revisit the panel’s membership at a later date.