Sign to restore your deeded waterfront access to Portsmouth's Sagamore Creek before the access is gone.

In 1999, the public was granted a deeded waterfront access easement to the Sagamore Creek. The entrance to this easement is located between 175 and 193 Gosport Road in the Tucker’s Cove neighborhood. The City of Portsmouth, as grantee, has been entrusted to uphold the express purpose of this deed, namely the right “to allow pedestrians to gain access to the waterfront”. This valuable easement is 0.87 acres and runs up to 90 feet wide at the waterfront. For nearly 20 years, the general public has enjoyed this deeded access to launch personal watercraft, go fishing and for other recreational activities. This access is now in jeopardy. 

For many years, the way through the easement was wide enough to drive a truck through. More recently, the state of the easement has deteriorated and become more treacherous. Over the past year, the deterioration accelerated, with the owners of 193 Gosport Road extensively planting, in the areas where the original path existed, large bushes and trees that will soon grow to block public access.  Additionally, this activity has increased the risk of tick and spider bites, poison ivy, and personal injury from introduced rocks. If this activity is not reversed, our access to the waterfront will soon be gone.

We, the undersigned, implore the City of Portsmouth as grantee, to defend the public’s legal right to safely access the waterfront via the deeded easement by restoring a smooth wide clear path, free of overgrowth and obstructions, to the waterfront as originally intended

We are petitioning the City of Portsmouth, NH to:

• Immediately remove, or cause to have removed, all landscaping and plants added (from October 2020 to date) that are blocking public access.
• Create a ten foot wide path from Gosport Road to the waterfront suitable for public access.
• Clearly mark the entrance and boundaries of the new public waterfront access.
• Create a two foot buffer zone on either side of the path where no new planting is allowed so that the path does not become overgrown in the future.

Don't lose your access! Sign this petition to preserve your waterfront access to Sagamore Creek.