Commercial fishermen, shack business owners and town residents are making their voices loud and clear: Dramatic changes to the Rye Harbor facility would not be welcome.
Lucas Raymond, a local commercial fishermen, said the state-owned marina is a place for commercial and sport fishermen, business owners, and Rye and Seacoast area residents.
“That is what it is, and it has to stay that way. What I think everyone’s afraid of is turning it into a playground for people who are wealthy,” Raymond said Wednesday. “We already have that down the street at the Wentworth. That’s not what Rye Harbor is and it would be an atrocity to turn it into that.”
Possible upgrades to Rye Harbor are being studied by Tighe & Bond, a contractor hired by the Pease Development Authority, following a previous idea to remove the shack businesses at the site. A 12-unit raised commercial building was pitched in 2024 to replace them, using a $1 million American Rescue Plan Act grant, but that idea was scrapped following public criticism.
The second of two public input sessions for the Rye Harbor study was held Wednesday by Tighe & Bond at the Pease Development Authority building in Portsmouth.
Attendees called for a cleaner site with less trash build-up, more parking availability, support for the facility’s jetties to protect from coastal storm damage and general maintenance around the lot. But by and large, public commenters want the facility to continue supporting its current marine uses.
Read the full story at Seacoastonline.
This article is being shared by partners in the Granite State News Collaborative. For more information, visit collaborativenh.org.
