What’s in the plan?

Here are the 12 elements of the draft Comprehensive Community Plan, along with their proposed goals. The full plan is available on the town’s website at portsmouthri.com.

1) Natural Resources — Portsmouth will be a community that preserves and protects its abundant natural resource assets for the benefit of current and future generations.

2) Recreation — Portsmouth will be an active community with a high-quality, well-maintained system of passive and active recreation sites, facilities and programs that meet the changing needs of all residents.

3) Historic and Cultural Resources — Portsmouth will be a community where cultural heritage, historic buildings, and traditional landscapes are preserved, enriched and protected and an enduring commitment has been made to continue this effort for future generations.

4) Housing — Portsmouth’s sense of community will be evident in a diverse stock of high quality, safe, affordable housing options for all individual needs and income levels without compromising the character of traditional neighborhood patterns.

5) Economic Development — Portsmouth will possess a balanced framework of local economic policies that promote sustainable growth in jobs, business activity and tax base that supports Portsmouth’s unique community character, its fiscal stability and the quality of its natural environment.

6) Agriculture — Agriculture will remain a vital and vibrant component of Portsmouth’s way of life, land use and economic activity.

7) Services and Facilities — Portsmouth will be a community where cost-effective, high-quality municipal services and well-maintained public facilities meet the changing needs of current and future residents.

8) Energy — Portsmouth will be an energy efficient community in all its municipal functions which supports the development of both public and private renewable energy production within the community.

9) Water Supply — Portsmouth will enjoy a safe, reliable, long-term supply of clean drinking water for the benefit of current and future residential, agricultural, commercial and industrial uses.

10) Transportation — Portsmouth will enjoy a safe, efficient and well-maintained multi-modal transportation network that increases mobility for all residents, supports the growth of business activity, reduces negative impacts on the natural environment, and enhances the character and quality of life of the community.

11) Natural Hazards and Climate Change — Portsmouth will be a community that has prepared its vulnerable areas, assets and populations to minimize the effects of natural hazards in a changing environment.

12) Land Use — The landscape of Portsmouth will present an orderly, balanced, and rational development pattern that helps preserve community character, enhance fiscal stability, and protect the quality of the natural environment.

PORTSMOUTH — A plan to guide the town’s growth and development over the next 20 years, long in the works, is finally receiving a public review by the Town Council.

The council Monday night began the public hearing on the 2020 draft Comprehensive Community Plan (CCP), which has already been endorsed by the Planning Board following its own review. After reviewing the first four sections of the 12-element plan, the council continued the hearing to Monday, March 21, when it will start looking at elements five through eight. On Monday, April 4, the panel will wrap up the hearing with a review of elements nine through 12. Previous elements may also be discussed during those two meetings.

“Tonight marks the beginning of the end of a long process,” Town Administrator Richard Rainer, Jr. said of the CCP, which is a complete re-write of the current plan approved in 2002.

The draft plan is the culmination of resident surveys and data-gathering exercises, the Citizens Interested in the Comprehensive Community Planning Process Committee, the Planning Board, and town staff, including members of the Planning Department who led the overall effort. 

Jim Riordan, team leader at Weston & Sampson, Inc., the consulting firm assisting the town with the CCP, said the purpose of the 20-year plan is to improve the town’s quality of life — or to make sure the existing quality of life is maintained. The CCP aims to protect and manage natural resources, guide throughout land use, coordinate growth and development, allow for a range of housing options, and more. State agencies must abide by local CCPs, which in turn must follow goals and policies established by the State Guide Plan, he said.

The draft plan has already been sent to Statewide Planning, which is tasked with reviewing and approving the CCP so it becomes binding. Because a dialogue has already been established with the state regarding the plan, Riordan said, following the town’s submission of the approved plan this spring or summer, the state should grant final approval a couple of months after that. 

On Monday the council tentatively approved the first, third and fourth elements of the plan — natural resources, historic and cultural resources, and housing — in unanimous votes with little discussion and no public comment.

Recreation element

The recreation element of the plan drew the only substantive discussion from council members on Monday. In particular, council member Daniela Abbott called a table listing five existing and future recreational facilities — basketball courts, tennis courts, baseball fields, soccer fields and softball fields — “woefully inadequate.” 

She pointed out the town is also reviewing a recreational master plan (the first workshop is set for Wednesday, March 16), which will cover many more facilities than the ones in the draft CCP.

“We are doing a master plan and five items on this list seems like it barely scratches the list of our recreational facilities needs,” Abbott said. “Do we want the Comprehensive Plan to be comprehensive, or not?”

Council member Keith Hamilton cautioned that listing too many facilities could put the town in a future bind by promising too much. He also noted that leaving a facility off the CCP doesn’t necessarily mean it can’t be pursued by the town anyway.

“Our current Comprehensive Community Plan doesn’t mention pickle ball, but we’re already discussing it,” Hamilton said, referring to the council’s recent decision to apply for a 2022 R.I. Department of Environmental Management Recreation Development Grant to transform the abandoned basketball courts at Elmhurst into a four-court pickle ball facility.

Abbott, however, said she was concerned that leaving off any needed facilities, including things such as bike paths, an aquatic facility or hiking trails, could limit the town’s funding sources for such projects going forward. “I err on the side as showing as much need as possible on here,” she said.

Rainer suggested adding an action item to the CCP, saying the plan would be amended with additional facilities once the recreational master plan is completed. Town Planner Gary Crosby added that the recreational plan could also be included as a supplement to the CCP.

The council unanimously voted to table action on the recreation element and to review the suggested revisions at the March 21 meeting.