Elevated Building at Worth Lot?

City Councilor Anthony Coviello isn't entirely sure what would be the best development for the Worth Lot, but he believes an elevated building that would preserve the existing 110 parking spaces might be the most doable option.

The council adopted Coviello's motion on Monday night to have City Manager John Bohenko report back to the full council with some potential development options that would not jeopardize the parking spaces. The motion passed 5-4, and could mark the beginning of a new chapter in the Worth Lot debate that has moved away from the former parking garage proposal to any number of new ideas.

"My preference is that it would be a garage, but that has been taken off the table.”

Coviello described the current Worth Lot as "a missing tooth in the downtown's smile" when he presented his motion to his colleagues on Monday night.

On Wednesday, Coviello said he would favor any proposal that would beautify the area and continue to serve the city, abutters and business owners well.

“I would be in favor of a park. I just think the current situation is unacceptable,” he said.

He is also convinced that if the city were to put the word out that it wanted to see elevated commercial/residential building proposals, there would be plenty of developers who would be interested.

One of those developers could be Dan Plummer, owner of Two International Group, LLC, at Pease International Tradeport. He was at the council meeting on Monday night because he was curious to see what would happen with Coviello's motion.

He agrees with Coviello that developers would be interested in working with the city should the city choose to do something.

"I think people will absolutely be interested because it's a good location," he said.

If the city decided to look at elevated building proposals, Plummer said there would be many issues to consider, such as making sure there is sufficient access to the back of the Worth Lot businesses so they could continue to receive deliveries. But the most important issue would be to come up with a plan that would be acceptable to the abutters and business owners, he said.

Nicholas Cracknell, the city's principal planner, said any future development proposal would definitely have to be accompanied by a good mitigation plan so that abutters and business owners would get behind it. He said the lack of a strong enough mitigation plan when it came to the Worth Lot parking garage proposal that the council rejected on Dec. 3 was one of the lessons learned for city staff.

“It’s kind of the nature of the beast,” he said.

Cracknell said the city has a number of projects that are using either an elevated building model or are putting parking underground. For instance, phase 3 of the Portwalk development has parking below level and parking at ground level behind the building. The proposed residential and commercial development at 80 Wright Ave. would also incorporate underground parking, he said.

Scott Nelson, who co-owns the Portsmouth Health Foods store with his wife, Natalie, said Wednesday that he would be more receptive to a Worth Lot development that would improve the site without negatively affecting his business.

Several of his employees and customers stormed City Hall and urged the council to reject the Worth Lot parking garage plan on Dec. 3. To his surprise and amazement, Nelson said they discovered they could fight City Hall and win.

He said he has asked city officials for years to improve the existing municipal lot, which has cracked sidewalks, a dumpster that attracts too many seagulls and the whaling wall, which is beginning to fade. The parking lot pavement is also cracked in many places.

"They haven't put a penny into it," he said.

Nelson said he and his wife have owned and operated their store for 18 years and as much as they want to have faith that city officials will do the right thing by the Worth Lot, he remains leery of City Hall.