The Planning and Sustainability Department (and Portsmouth City Hall) is open Monday 8:00AM - 6:00PM, Tuesday-Thursday 8:00AM - 4:30PM and Friday 8:00AM - 1:00PM. We welcome you to stop by our office on the third floor of City Hall at 1 Junkins Avenue during business hours, call us at 603-610-7216 or email planning@cityofportsmouth.com. 

A Land Use Permit Application is required for projects that require land use review by Planning Department staff and those that involve new construction, an addition or expansion of an existing building, home occupations, or any exterior renovations of properties located in the Historic District, as well as for any projects that require approval from the City's land use boards (Planning Board, Historic District Commission, and Zoning Board of Adjustment) including subdivisions, site plan review, conditional use permits, variances, special exceptions, and historic district commission certificates of approval. Please click here for more information on land use applications, forms and fees. For Building Permit requirements see the Inspection Department FAQs.

You can find out if your property is located within the Historic District by searching for your property on MapGeo. Type in your address in the “Property Quick Search” box in the upper right corner of the map. Click on the “Themes” layer and toggle on “Zoning”. The legend will indicate which zone or zones your property is located in.  

A property is in the Historic District if: 

1. There is a red outline around the perimeter of the entire property; or

2. If the red boundary line bisects any part of any structure of the property. 

If your property lies within the Historic District or if you have a questions as to whether your property is in the historic district, please reach out to Izak Gilbo, HDC Staff Planner/Liaison at igilbo@cityofportmsouth.com or (603)-610-7235 to discuss your project and for guidance on the permitting process. 

Generators can be applied for through the building permit process. There are some zoning requirements that need to be met before your permit proceeds. These include: 

• If your generator and mounting pad do not exceed 10 s.f. in area and they are not combined to have a height greater than 36 in, it will not have to abide by yard requirements but instead shall be set back at least 10 ft from the property line and cannot be closer to the street than the front of the principal structure.
•  If your generator exceeds at least one of the criteria listed above (greater than 10 s.f. or taller than 36 in), then it will be counted towards your property's building coverage calculations and will have to abide by yard requirements (i.e. setbacks for your zone). 
• A generator shall not be placed within a wetland or up to 25 ft from the edge of a wetland. 
•  A generator may be placed within a portion of the wetland buffer, so long as it is outside of the 25 ft vegetated buffer (between 26 and 100 ft from the edge of the wetland) and is less than 10 s.f. in total area including the mounting pad. 
   

You can find your Zoning District by searching for your property on MapGeo. Type in your address in the “Property Quick Search” box in the upper right corner of the map. Click on the “Themes” layer and toggle on “Zoning”. The legend will indicate which zone or zones your property is located in.  

The Zoning Ordinance outlines the use requirements for each zoning district in Section 10.440 - Table of Uses and the dimensional requirements in Article 5 and Section 10.521 - Table of Dimensional Requirements.  

If you need more assistance with the specific zoning requirements for your project please inquire with the Planning and Sustainability Department staff at (603) 610-7216.

We may have a subdivision or site plan on file for your property. It is unlikely that we will have a residential plot plan on file in the Planning Department, but you may want to make an appointment to review our files. Please contact the Planning Department at (603) 610-7216 and we can determine what we may have on file for your property. For review of the Inspections Department files please contact them at (603) 610-7243. 

Please contact the Planning and Sustainability Department at (603) 610-7216 or planning@cityofportsmouth.com and administrative staff will direct you to a Planner who can discuss your project with you.

Please see the current meeting schedule here: https://www.cityofportsmouth.com/planportsmouth/meetings-schedule

For a PDF of the meeting schedule click here.

Please see the following reference guide for fences in the City of Portsmouth here.

You can send an email or letter addressed to the Chair of the Board through the Planning Department email at planning@cityofportsmouth.com, or you can provide comments at the meeting as indicated on the notice.