A proposed workforce housing complex off Islington Street in Portsmouth promptly ran into a brick wall recently when the Zoning Board of Adjustment rejected several required variances for the project.

The proposed five-story, 60-unit complex at the corner of Cate and Bartlett streets would have included 16 artist living and working spaces and 44 one- and two-bedroom rental units for families earning between 80 and 120 percent of the area’s median annual income, which equates to between $55,350 and $83,484 for a family of three. But the ZBA voted 4-3 against approving six required variances for the project.

ZBA chairman Charles LeBlanc said the proposed complex was too large for the site, which is currently zoned industrial. “From my point of view and from the point of view of others that voted, the project was just too big,” he said. “The infrastructure in that area just didn’t appear to be able to handle that size of a project.”

Portsmouth’s Blue Ribbon Committee on Housing has identified workforce housing as a priority for the city, and advocates of the project hoped it would help fulfill that need. But LeBlanc said developers and architects still need to follow the rules. “I really object to the city’s war cry of workforce housing and LEED certification as a means for running roughshod over the requirements of the ordinance,” he said.

LeBlanc said a couple of residents in the area of Bartlett Street expressed concerns that the proposed complex would affect traffic, water and sewer runoff in the area. He encouraged the city to investigate other parcels for workforce housing projects.

“I really believe we have to have a diversity of economic and age groups within the city and this would have been wonderful for that. However, there are other factors that have to be taken into consideration,” he said.

LeBlanc added that he would consider a scaled-back workforce housing project at the site on Cate Street. But architect Lisa DeStefano said scaling back the complex would make it more difficult to keep the unit prices low. “We believe that the 60 units were needed so that we could spread the construction costs out to all of those units and keep the cost of each unit down,” she said.

In response to LeBlanc’s contention that the project was too large for the site, DeStefano pointed out that many surrounding residential buildings are of a similar size and scale, including nearby mill buildings. She said the industrial zoning in the area is long outdated. “That, perhaps, was left over from something in history where that use was supporting the railroad. Now, in the year 2009, you look at opportunities where life has changed and what would be a good use there,” she said. “We thought it was a great location (for workforce housing).”

DeStefano said pursuing a smaller complex at the site could be investigated in the future, but because the private developer for the project is not local, all plans have been put on hold indefinitely.