As part of the City of Portsmouth’s 2025 Master Plan, Nitsch provided planning consulting services. We contributed to sustainable sites, coastal management, and infrastructure components of the Master Plan, integrating recommendations from Portsmouth’s 2013 Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment and Climate Action Plan into the 2025 Master Plan.
We recommended that Portsmouth consult with the LEED for Neighborhood Development (LEED ND) rating system to integrate sustainable practices throughout the community. The recommendations in the Master Plan are broken into five themes, 19 goals, and 98 specific action items. Those action items were brought forward and integrated into five focus areas to provide examples of where the action items could be used throughout the city.
Nitsch developed a green infrastructure toolkit that spanned topics such as mobility, water resources, energy, and environmental stewardship to provide actionable ways Portsmouth could continue to build a more sustainable community. We researched and prepared Master Plan document narratives relating to sustainable stormwater strategies, streetscape design, and coastal resilience.
Throughout the two-year master planning process, Nitsch collaborated closely with the consultant team, Portsmouth municipal authorities, and constituent groups. We worked with project team members to create public engagement materials and hold public meetings to gather feedback.
Key Collaborators
Owner: City of Portsmouth, NH
Master Planner: NBBJ