Part of a series profiling the region’s newly elected municipal leaders and their communities

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Portsmouth has a population of 21,233 people. That makes it considerably smaller than neighboring cities like Dover and Rochester, each of which has just shy of 30,000 residents.

And yet, Portsmouth has a robust downtown offering an abundance of restaurants, retail stores and hotels. That’s because the Port City is a hub in a much broader metropolitan area, drawing daily commuters and visitors from surrounding communities, as well as traveling tourists from New York to Portland, as well as across the nation and the world.

The confluence of local residents, workers and visitors provides clear economic and financial advantages, but it also creates a unique set of challenges.

“Mostly we have opportunities, because all these people are coming here and spending their money,” said newly elected Mayor Eric Spear. “But we also have challenges to absorb that influx. These are nice things, but at the end of the day, I do work for the residents, the people who voted for me.”

As he begins his two-year term as mayor, Spear aims to control city spending and keep taxes in check while fostering downtown development. But any new development presents a variety of other considerations, including land use, parking, traffic, tax revenue, environmental sustainability and pedestrian accessibility. 

“All these things are interrelated. You can’t silo any one of them,” Spear said. “And the development is happening rapidly in the downtown and in the Northern Tier. So I think it’s important that we really address those issues head on and work with the private developers to make sure the things that they’re developing are in harmony with what the Portsmouth community wants to have going forward.” 

Spear, 42, is a Maryland native who has lived in Portsmouth for 14 years. A computer programmer, he was finishing up his second term on the City Council when municipal elections rolled around last November. Former Mayor Tom Ferrini had announced a few months earlier that he would not seek reelection, opening up a vacancy in the fourth-floor office at City Hall. Spear earned the most votes in the Council race, thereby taking the mayor’s seat.

He takes over at a difficult time for governing bodies across the state and nation. Portsmouth’s economy has fared better than most throughout the recession, but budgets are still tight. Last spring, councilors committed to crafting a flat budget with virtually no increase in any department. That left the Fire Department $150,000 short of what it needed to keep Station 3 open at Pease Tradeport. Spear was among those who voted against granting the extra funds to keep the station open.

“I felt it was important the budget stay firm,” he said. “We had a 0-percent budget increase for each department for the fiscal year we’re in right now. Certainly, as a councilor, I felt it was important that we stick by that goal.”

The Fire Department managed to keep the station open through the remainder of 2011 by neglecting to fill certain staff vacancies. But, this month, the department announced it would shut down the station whenever staffing levels fall below the normal shift of 13 people. Fire officials are again asking for $150,000 to reopen the station, which they say is vital to emergency response times.

Spear said he is willing to reconsider his former stance, but he is reluctant to channel money from the city’s undesignated fund balance toward the cause, as some other councilors have suggested. Those funds are intended for nonrecurring expenses, such as unexpectedly high snow removal costs, he said. Giving the Fire Department money now will only patch up the problem until the current fiscal year ends in June, at which time they’ll need even more money.

“You can’t use that fund for a recurring expense, because you end up digging a hole for yourself twice,” Spear said.

Furthermore, he said, having ample money in the undesignated fund balance helps the city get favorable bond ratings.

One might argue that public safety is an area where the city can’t afford not to spend as much as necessary. Then again, one might make the same argument about any number of city-funded departments and programs.

“That’s the thing, that’s a valid argument,” Spear said. “I’ve heard the same thing about education. I’ve heard the same thing about the police and trash pickup.”

The dilemma over Fire Station 3 illustrates the types of challenges that lie ahead for Spear, who said his top priority is to limit spending. As costs continue to increase, eventually, the city must decide what’s necessary and what’s expendable. The library? The Recreation Department? There’s no answer that sounds good.

A possible solution is to raise more revenue, but the various methods for doing so don’t always sit well with residents. Last year, the Council approved a rate hike in curb-side parking to $1 per hour, as well as enforcement of parking meters on Sundays. It was a largely unpopular decision among residents.
In December, councilors postponed a vote on bonding $12 million for a new parking garage in the Worth Lot as they continue to study parking supply and demand. Spear believes the city does need a new parking garage, although he’s not sure where it should go. A parking consultant the city hired noted that many parking issues can be addressed by maximizing use of existing spaces.

For instance, the Masonic Lot at the intersection of Middle Street and Miller Avenue is usually empty, Spear said. Increasing pedestrian accessibility between that lot and downtown might make people more willing to park there.

According to Spear, the parking consultant also made a compelling point about the importance of tourism in Portsmouth. Though residents can get annoyed with tourists, the downtown would not have nearly as many stores and restaurants without them.

“All the things that we have downtown, Portsmouth residents cannot support. They’re supported by tourism. And not just tourism from people from Boston or Florida, but people from Kittery and Rye and New Castle. We need people to come into Portsmouth and spend their money in the downtown,” Spear said. 

That mentality partly accounts for the proliferation of hotels in the Northern Tier. With at least two more hotels in the area, some residents wonder just how many hotels the city needs.

However, Spear said, the very fact that developers want to keep building hotels here is proof that the demand exists.

“The hotels are booked, in fact. It’s often hard to get a hotel room. And clearly the people who are lending the developers money have done their research. They know there’s a need for hotels from their perspective,” Spear said.

Still, he continued, there is a point at which the quantity of hotels becomes overwhelming for residents. The Economic Development Commission has also warned against inviting too many condo developments to the downtown. The commission would prefer to see more office space, which helps drive the workday economy.

The trick is in striking an effective balance between hotels, retail, residential and office space. To Spear, the solution is not in establishing zoning laws that prohibit certain building uses, but in creating incentives to encourage desired uses, such as a parking facility for employees of local offices.

Spear also recognizes the need for affordable housing in Portsmouth. He’s eyeing a proposed development at the corner of Woodbury Avenue and Dennett Street, which would include nine residential units, two of them below the market rate. The project would take advantage of a provision in the city ordinance that allows greater housing density if some units are below the market rate. No developer yet has taken advantage of that provision. The proposal goes to the Planning Board this year.

The newly elected City Council was sworn in on Jan. 3 and will hold its first meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 17, in the Eileen Dondero Foley Council Chambers at City Hall. That’s when Spear will take his leadership post and begin serving the citizens of Portsmouth.

“While we do want to make sure that we’re welcoming for people who come to visit, work and spend their money here, my number one priority is for the residents,” Spear said. “So we want to make sure that the opportunities and the money people are bringing don’t end up being a negative for people who want to live here.”