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Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Group to Examine City's Sustainability
Portsmouth residents will help craft a new sustainable vision for the city over the next few months through the Sustainable Portsmouth initiative, reports the Portsmouth Herald.
Sustainable Portsmouth is ''an effort led by volunteers who seek to engage the community in a transformation of the way the city handles a wide range of environmental and energy issues.'' The seeds of the initiative were sewn ''following the 2005 master plan to create a more sustainable Portsmouth,'' and formally launched last fall. ''It has involved residents, business owners and those directly involved in the city government. To reach that goal, organizers have a five-year plan that residents in study circles will be helping to craft.'' 1/25/2010
Resource(s): www.seacoastonline.com/
Principal, Phys. Ed. Teacher Escort ''Walking School Bus''
Inventive and dedicated like many others hard at work to reverse the national decline in students walking or biking to school from nearly 50 to below 15 percent between 1969 and 2001, Gorham's Edward Fenn Elementary School principal Karen Cloutier and physical education teacher Rob Larivee, reports Berlin Daily Sun writer Gail Scott, have been personally escorting children in a ''walking school bus'' since last year, running it each Wednesday regardless of weather, and despite the Mount Washington area's harsh winter achieving record results.
With only 20 percent of the students living within walking distance and just one-quarter of those sometimes walking or biking to school two years ago, ''(w)e worked up to 70 participants by the end of the school year,'' which is ''about 32 percent of our whole school population,'' said principal Cloutier, eager to expand the program once she finds adult volunteers to accompany the children on other days.
She and teacher Larivee gather children in Main Street end sections, with both groups meeting at the 300-foot school driveway, which is the only part of the route that lacks a safe sidewalk but will get one soon, thanks to a $8,000 grant and an expected $4,000 supplement from the state Department of Transportation's Bureau of Planning and Community Assistance under its Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program.
''We track our total miles walked for the year,'' the principal told Newsweek magazine reporter Caitlin McDevitt for a recent article on how fuel price spikes force school districts to reduce busing and ask students to walk or bike. ''Kids love to hear what great distances they travel. One of our first grade students was incredibly proud to hear he had walked a total of 17 miles last year.''
To help them visualize their accomplishments, the school installed a corridor display case in which every program participant owns a paper sneaker and gets it decorated with a star for each half-mile walked.
''What really makes us unique is that we walk in any kind of weather,'' the principal pointed out. ''Our students walk through the winter months -- snow, rain, wind, ice -- we have it all, even an occasional sunny day. If there is school, we will walk -- and we rarely cancel school.''
And that's how it has always been in Gorham, noted state Safe Routes to School Coordinator John W. Corrigan in an e-mail to program friends.
Instrumental in the school's sidewalk grant and impressed with what he saw during his several visits and occasional walking bus participation, he recalls from his years as a young newspaper reporter covering the area that the school ''opened an hour or two late after the great blizzard of 1978,'' while Boston ''was shut down for a week.'' -- Berlin Daily Sun, Newsweek 9/12/2008
Resource(s): www.laconiadailysun.com/ ; www.newsweek.com/
Poor Use of Limited Transportation Funds Hurting Smart Growth Efforts in New Hampshire, Writer Says
Little known by the public and largely ignored by officials, New Hampshire's smart-growth law seeks denser mixed-use development with ''ample transportation modes'' and requires state agencies to consider these policies in spending state or federal funds, writes the Conservation Law Foundation's New Hampshire Advocacy Center Director Melissa Hoffer in a Union Leader column, dismayed by a dramatic cut in Manchester bus service.
''In a time of soaring gas prices and global warming, and in a city where people -- either by choice or necessity -- should be able to rely less (or not at all) on cars, transportation investments must be aimed at providing citizens more, not fewer, transit options, as well as making Manchester and other cities more integrated with one another, not more isolated,'' she points out. ''Spending limited transportation dollars in a way that reduces options for downtown Manchester, and which actually requires people to own a car and drive to a suburban location in order to access public transit, is anything but smart, and is grossly inconsistent with the state law and policy.''
Commending New Hampshire DOT Commissioner George Campbell ''for his commitment to public transit,'' Director Hoffer notes that regardless of who is to blame, the Manchester intercity bus service cut reflects ''a larger systemic problem facing New Hampshire -- inadequate transportation funding and planning.''
The remedy lies in a larger transit funding share and related urban investments.
''Highway park-and-ride bus lots are no doubt part of the solution for enhancing transit options and reducing traffic on I-93, but they cater to expanded suburban development and perpetuate the need for people to drive,'' she writes, stressing the need for downtown Manchester intercity bus service, with links both to Boston and Hew Hampshire communities.
''And, yes,'' she concludes, ''it also must include passenger rail that supports New Hampshire's city and town centers, that serves the needs of all residents, and that reduces the high economic, social, and environmental costs of our current highway-focused system.'' -- Union Leader 6/23/2008
Resource(s): www.unionleader.com/
Aging New Hampshire Communities Need Smart Growth to Survive, Experts Say
Originating in an article about second homes on Cape Cod and a follow-up series about New England development a few years ago, a book entitled ''Communities & Consequences: The Unbalancing of New Hampshire's Ecology & What We Can Do About It,'' by demographer Peter Francese and farmer-writer Lorraine Merrill, the state's newly appointed commissioner of agriculture, markets and food, cautions that without smart growth as a cure for exclusionary zoning and a stimulus for greater housing and income-level diversity, the nation's sixth oldest state population will risk further decline in families with children and workforce.
''The thing we've discovered together, is that over the past 10 or 15 years, children have gone from being perceived as a precious resource, absolutely essential and critical for our state's future, to becoming perceived as an intolerable financial burden,'' said Peter Francese about people who attribute the rapid property tax increases almost entirely to education costs and who react with development restrictions.
''Excluding children from your community through large-lot zoning or age-restricted housing or some other means is not in the best interest of either your community or the state as a whole,'' he told Seacoastonline writer Jennifer Feals, noting that such exclusions hit lower-income earners hardest and threaten to diminish workforce growth nearly to zero within the next 10 or 15 years.
''The irony is,'' pointed out Lorraine Merrill, ''that a lot of these workers who are missing and needed are the ones who are needed to meet the needs of our aging population, whether it be health care or retail, all kinds of assistance, that older and more affluent people are looking for and are going to increasingly need and workers are not going to be there.''
Complementary to the book, the writer adds, a ''Communities & Consequences'' documentary by local film producer Jay Childs will soon be ready for New Hampshire Public Television broadcasts and local shows. -- Sea Coast Online 2/10/2008
Resource(s): www.seacoastonline.com/
Consultant: Portsmouth Should Renovate City Center Middle School Rather Than Build Elsewhere
Easy Access, Community Involvement Cited as Reasons for Portsmouth to Renovate City Center Middle School
''Schools are social institutions that are part of communities,'' said Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center youth behavioral psychologist and longtime school consultant Arthur Maerlender, hopeful that Portsmouth will renovate an old middle school near the city center instead of building a new one farther south, because kids ''do better when they're in the mix'' and the community holds them ''accountable for their actions.''
Although the new building could cost $9 million less and offer larger classrooms and on-site athletic fields, reports Portsmouth Herald writer Chris Outcalt, the psychologist told him the old school in an established community offsets its higher renovation cost and tight spaces by providing better safety, easy access on foot, and more economic benefits.
In addition, the writer notes, a recent National Clearinghouse for Education Facilities (NCEF) report, entitled ''Historic Neighborhood Schools Deliver 21st Century Education,'' stresses that old schools often have features missing in newer ones, ''such as inspiring architecture, large windows and meticulous craftsmanship.''
Created by the U.S. Department of Education in 1997, the Washington-based NCEF emphasizes another two key issues in the report.
''Too many schools,'' the writer quotes, ''are casually condemned by biases that favor new construction, by school facility assessments that reflect little expertise in the rehabilitation of older buildings, and by ignorance of basic techniques for helping older buildings meet modern codes and program requirement.''
What's more, it states, ''Neighborhood locations also facilitate greater involvement by parents and residents in the school and can make communities more amenable to passing future bond issues.''
As the School Boards discusses the advantages of the central and outer site, the City Council invited Arthur Maerlender to present his psychological and educational insight at a meeting on March 28. -- Portsmouth Herald 3/18/2007
Resource(s): www.seacoastonline.com/ ; www.edfacilities.org
Need for Housing, Maintaining Community Character Are Key Topics at Portsmouth Smart Growth Panel Discussion
''Every growing town needs labor, so ask yourself where labor sleeps at night,'' said New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority Coordinator Benjamin Frost at a Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce panel discussion on Smart Growth, community planning and housing affordability, telling the members, ''You must care about where people are living, because the less housing choices there are, the more problems workers have personally and within the business.''
The ever-bigger gap in the region's median home prices and median incomes since 1988, he said, has especially hurt first-time homebuyers in the past six years. In 2000, they could afford 19 percent of the housing on the market, but in 2006 only five percent.
Consequently, reports Portsmouth Herald writer Dave R. Choate, the coordinator urged municipalities to offer builders affordable-housing incentives -- beneficial also to businesses and local economies.
In turn, economic planner Jeffrey Taylor focused on municipal efforts to protect local character and to grow, stressing the need for coherence between policy and practice.
''Every town with a population under 10,000 says, 'We want to preserve the rural character of our community,' while every city over 10,000 residents says, 'We want to revitalize our downtown,''' he observed. ''The Smart Growth discussion is about why some ordinances fail, and a lot of times it's because you have to tweak it so much to get it passed that the policy and the action split.''
In this context, he commended Portsmouth, saying the city ''should take pride in 35 years of keeping policy and action on a good track.'' -- Portsmouth Herald 2/22/2007
Resource(s): www.seacoastonline.com/
Yearlong Smart Growth Educational Program Geared Toward New Hampshire's Lake Region Communities
To familiarize the state's Lake Region communities with Smart Growth and its long-term economic, environmental and social benefits, New Hampshire Audubon's Prescott Farm Center in Laconia is launching a yearlong free educational program on January 11, with the first presentation, by University of New Hampshire researcher Cameron Wake and Clean Air Cool Planet expert Roger Stephenson, entitled ''Climate Change and the Northern NH Economy.''
They will focus on a recent study of tourism and area climate variables over the past 20 years.
In the second presentation, on January 24, entitled ''Green Buildings: Conservation at the Heart of Development,'' New Hampshire-based Jordan Institute experts Kirk Stone and Paul Lavielle will introduce a slide show of buildings with smaller ''ecological footprints,'' which include less water and energy consumption, reduced greenhouse gas production and lower health risks.
Recommending the series not only to the public, but also to conservation commissioners, town council members, planners, real estate agents, contractors and other industry professionals, Prescott Farm Director Scott Fitzpatrick says, ''The Lakes Region is one of the fastest growing areas of the state, and we believe that it is important for communities to be able to make choices that help them develop in the best ways possible.''
View the program brochure at www.nhaudubon.org/pdf/2007-mclanelectures.pdf. -- The Citizen 1/2/2007
Resource(s): www.citizen.com/
EPA Workshops, Presentations Helping Laconia Use Smart Growth to Secure Quality of Life
Established in the heart of the state's Lake Region in 1893, bounded by 19 shoreline miles of four lakes, and prized for its history, scenery and lifestyle by the 17,000 residents and thousands of tourists, Laconia is determined to secure its assets and future through smart growth, a course discussed and mapped out at a December 11-13 series of workshops and presentations by a team of national experts, led by EPA's Smart Growth program chief, Department of Community, Environment and Development (DCED) Director Geoff Anderson.
Part of EPA's smart-growth technical assistance grant, report Laconia Daily Sun writer Michael Kitch and Citizen writer John Koziol, the team focused on best solutions for each of Laconia's three distinct areas -- downtown, Lakeport, and Weirs Beach -- while emphasizing their long-term interdependence and the need for broad public planning input.
Downtown Laconia, the experts advised, should become a mixed-use, walkable, ''high-quality urban place,'' with green space, waterfront amenities, and two-way traffic on key streets to draw people into rather than around the commercial core.
Lakeport should retain its pedestrian-friendly, mainly residential character, with some commercial and resort development, a stronger railroad role, a new lakeside walking path, and perhaps a dock for small boats.
Weirs Beach, the hub of the city's tourism business, should benefit from new homes and hotels, and a better mix of entertainment and recreational facilities, with a boardwalk and maybe beach expansion.
All three areas should offer more waterfront spaces, interlinked by walkways.
''Laconia is the city on the lakes, but it doesn't feel like it,'' observed Portsmouth traffic engineer Rick Chellman.
San Francisco architect Rick Williams noted that much of the city's task would amount to restoration of its earlier streetscapes, including mixed-use buildings -- with ground level retail and housing atop -- on both sides of Elm Street in Lakeport.
Berkeley urban economist Dena Belzer agreed that redevelopment often means better use of neglected structures, advising renovation of several Laconia theaters as helpful for its arts and entertainment festival.
She also pointed out that smart growth planning requires a clear development vision and streamlined approval process, a ''critical mass'' of construction in core areas, incremental progress and plan implementation, and full use and enhancement of existing assets.
To help it happen, the team offered numerous zoning change and other suggestions, promising a full report in 8-12 weeks.
''It's up to you to pursue what you think we got right,'' EPA DCED Director Anderson told listeners, encouraging them to continue discussions on what they think should be corrected or made better. -- Citizen 12/14/2006
Resource(s): www.laconiadailysun.com
Concord Urged to Keep Focus on Downtown Renewal; Preservation Tax Credits, Relaxed City Codes Suggested to Encourage New Projects
Downtown Concord renewal ''must remain a priority,'' said a recent Concord Monitor editorial, applauding the transformation of the former Sears property on Main Street and the Blue Cross building on Pillsbury Street nearby, both closed in the early 1990s, into 200,000 square feet of ''top-notch'' office space, but stressing that the city should ''keep the downtown renewal ball rolling'' with attractive condominiums and apartments, and make it easier to create on-site parking as ''the key to selling or renting space for a premium price.''
One of the best sites for redevelopment, the editorial pointed out, the old railroad yards in the South End, where neighbors are fighting a proposed shopping center, ''deserves an innovative, environmentally sensitive project,'' and the empty or underused upper floors of historic buildings on Main Street ''would make wonderful residences'' if a new committee of planners, architects, developers, bankers and others could make conversion financially viable.
''Even baby boomers who've cashed out and downsized won't pay rents or condo prices high enough to justify the cost of making the old Main Street buildings habitable,'' the editorial observed, advising the city to give the committee all possible help to bring middle-income and high-end housing downtown. Possible solutions could include relaxed city codes, preservation tax credits, and time-specific releases from additional property taxes due to improvement-related property value increases.
Noting that lawmakers recently authorized municipalities ''to defer tax increases for good cause,'' the editorial said ''the new toll should be used to encourage housing that would keep downtown vital after dark.''
In a subsequent letter to the editor, Main Street Concord Inc. Executive Director Nan Hagen agrees that more housing downtown must remain a priority, pointing to a new downtown living trend nationwide.
''Young professionals, senior executives, couples with children, retirees and people of all ages,'' she writes, ''are discovering that downtowns offer everything they want in a community -- restaurants, theaters, unique shops, grocery stores, health and fitness centers, beauty salons and parks.''
Noting that the downtown area already has ''the largest value per acre in Concord,'' and that old building rehabilitation needs no new infrastructure, sewer lines, water or utilities, she writes, ''Increasing market-rate housing downtown is a smart growth initiative.'' -- Concord Monitor 6/22/2006
Resource(s): www.concordmonitor.com/
Preservation Alliance Gets More Public Support as New Hampshire Group Expands Focus to Include Historic Buildings
As they expand their protection efforts from natural resources to historic assets, including early barns and abandoned mills, conservationists see ''a new wave'' of public awareness and support for their goals, said New Hampshire Preservation Alliance Director Jennifer Goodman on its 20th anniversary, concerned that after a good start in the 1960s, New Hampshire fell somewhat behind adjacent Vermont and Maine, but also optimistic that the state can rejoin the best once it makes better use of preservation easements, the investment tax credit and smart growth policies.
Akin to land conservation easements, which protect hundreds of thousands of acres across the state from development, reports Concord Monitor writer Chelsea Conaboy, preservation easements prohibit demolition of old buildings, stone walls and other structures, while the investment tax credit lets taxpayers write off 20 percent of their historic building renovation costs.
So far, said director Goodman, New Hampshire benefits from only about two dozen historic preservation easements, partly because of their complexity, and the investment tax credit is rarely used, although it helped developers restore a hotel in Whitefield and adapt a mill in Concord for senior housing.
She also pointed to the preservation of the Daniel Webster Farm and the restoration of mills in Manchester and Harrisville, calling Concord a preservation leader for maintaining its historic district and adopting a demolition delay ordinance, which protects historic buildings from being torn down without a public process.
But changes come fast and the state must be more proactive, the director stressed, mentioning two threats and some possible remedies. The rapidly growing southern part of the state, where farmers sell to residential builders and development encroaches upon the edges of historic districts, could use a bill -- currently in a House committee -- that would encourage downtown restoration through a temporary freeze of property values at pre-rehabilitation level to keep taxes low.
The economically weaker North Country, where old vacant buildings sometimes deteriorate beyond restoration, should fully realize that its scenery and historic resources are the biggest draw both for tourists, with those focused on culture staying longer and spending more money, and for new residents, who often invest all they have in their homes and want the community to protect its character.
''There's a great synergy between historic preservation and cultural and heritage tourism,'' director Goodman said, encouraged that newcomers guard what they found and that her organization has ''the potential to tap that sense of place.'' -- Concord Monitor
11/28/2005
Resource(s): www.cmonitor.com/
Advantages of Regional Service Agencies Outlined at Concord Planning Seminar
Small towns often share boundaries, but rarely plan and act together, said University of Southern Maine's Edmund Muskie School of Public Service professor Evan Richert at the Concord seminar ''Planning for Smart Growth ... or Sprawl in New Hampshire: Is It Time for a Regional Approach to Land-Use Planning and Governance?'', assuring the audience of more than 100 area planners that by creating regional service agencies -- similar to school districts -- they could eliminate redundant jobs, cut public costs and reduce suburban sprawl.
Professor Richert, a former Maine State Planning Office director, reports writer Paula Tracy of the New Hampshire Union Leader, noted that Maine lawmakers are considering a pilot program to let municipalities join in municipal service districts to pool their resources.
Seminar moderator, former Office of State Planning director Jeff Taylor, observed that New Hampshire already has a similar law, under which Laconia and Gilford joined forces to build an industrial park; New London, Sunapee and Newbury, to protect shoreline; and other communities, to share fire, police and emergency services.
Such efforts, the guest pointed out, could become even more effective if municipalities created a regional government, which would allow for larger budgets and bonds, more comprehensive land-use planning and regulation, and unified property and other taxes, without undermining local autonomy.
When communities grow from about 5,000 to 10,000 or so, he said, their per-resident costs skyrocket. Getting ''restless,'' the suburbanites start to push for bans on key farmer activities after 8 a.m., demand more soccer fields, full-time fire protection and special patrols, and local costs ''begin to add up,'' he observed, hoping more and more municipalities will see the answer in regional governance. -- Union Leader
4/20/2005
Resource(s): www.theunionleader.com/
Developer Adapts Dover's Open Space Subdivision Ordinance to Identify Key Natural Features for Protection
Having earlier established a land conservation fund, made of developer impact fees and special bond appropriations, Dover, some 10 miles inland from the Atlantic Coast, has been trying to make the best of its limited resources by augmenting them in 2002 with a new zoning category, or the open space subdivision (OSS) ordinance, which the Derry-based Qroe Farm company adapted further along smart-growth lines into its own Preservation Development model.
While the OSS ordinance requires developers to cluster homes and keep 20 to 50 percent of the land permanently intact, reports Seacostline web writer Dona Masi Layton, the Preservation Development model identifies key natural features for protection -- a farm, a pond-side trail or an exquisite landscape -- weaving the houses accordingly and blending them into open space, which remains part of individual lots.
If a farmer sells a parcel for Qroe's development, he agrees to farm the rest of the land, while new homeowners agree to pay farmland taxes, to enjoy the unspoiled surroundings and to help ensure the farmer's economic viability. This model ''conserves land, provides greater lifestyle satisfaction to residents, and adds value to development projects,'' said Qroe Farm president Robert Baldwin at a recent outreach and education workshop sponsored by the Dover Open Lands Committee, asserting that it also ''increases the discipline of land protection and maintenance of the open space system, since each homeowner is seen to have a stake.''
The open space, adds the writer, is maintained by deed restrictions rather than permanent conservation easements, with homeowner associations responsible for its upkeep and rule enforcement.
Dover Open Lands Committee chairwoman Joyce El Kourati called it ''an intriguing idea,'' depending on the goals. ''The Qroe Farm approach may not be the best way to ensure the permanent preservation of sensitive natural areas, but it is certainly an effective way to integrate man with the natural landscape,'' she said. ''It looks like this approach has been particularly successful in conserving community farms that otherwise might have been developed.'' -- Seacostline
12/20/2004
Resource(s): www.seacoastonline.com/
Gilmanton Planning Board Moves to Gather Input on Future for Town
In line with New Hampshire's requirement for regular community master plan updates to ensure resource protection, quality of life and smart growth, the Gilmanton Planning Board gathered public input on the future of this small town in the state's lake region and set up three subject matter committees to flesh out key goals for the next 5-10 years.
The Land Use Committee, reports Laconia Citizen writer Melanie Nelson, will focus on housing, a possible change of the two-acre rural lot minimum, some road upgrades, and growth-management and zoning ordinances.
The Capital Improvements Committee will scrutinize demographic changes and growth projections in the context of the town's roads, schools, services and revenue.
The Recreation and Community Character Community will handle the town's investment in land trusts, recreation, forest upkeep, scenic areas, conservation easements and historic preservation, along with sidewalks and other pedestrian-friendly features.
Meeting jointly each Wednesday evening, the committees invite residents to participate in their deliberations. -- Citizen
11/8/2004
Resource(s): http://www4.citizen.com/
Effect of Proposed I-93 Improvements Debated in New Hampshire
''Sprawl has happened, and it is going to continue,'' said New Hampshire Department of Transportation (DOT) official Ansel Sanborn, promising leaders from 26 southern communities -- who debated the need and side effects of widening the congested 20-mile I-93 stretch between the state line and Manchester from two to four lanes in each direction -- $3.5 million under the proposed five-year Community Technical Assistance Program (CTAP) for planning and smart growth initiatives.
According to a 2002 Delphi Study, reports Union Leader and Sunday News correspondent Kimberly Houghton, municipalities along the I-93 corridor will see their populations increase about 10 percent more with the $420 million project than without it in the next 20 years.
For example, Derry's population of some 34,000 will increase to almost 47,700 if the highway is widened, or to 44,000 otherwise. For Londonderry, the figures are 23,000 and 37,250 or 33,000, respectively. Most local leaders agree that the congested highway needs widening for safety reasons, but they try to control growth and worry about the project's impact on open space, affordable housing, neighborhood safety, traditional small-town atmosphere and general quality of life.
Paradoxically, DOT expert Bill Cass estimates that the highway, designed for 60,000 vehicles a day but carrying about 110,000 in the Salem area, will carry 140,000 in 20 years regardless of its expansion. -- Union Leader
10/31/2004
Resource(s): www.theunionleader.com/
Editorial: Manchester-Salem Corridor Needs Balanced Transportation Solution, Not a Wider I-93
The New Hampshire Department of Transportation's idea of spending $440 million to widen ever more congested I-93 between Manchester and Salem, some 15 miles southeast, from four to eight lanes is ''simple, easy and wrong,'' write state Conservation Law Foundation chairman and former Concord Mayor Martin L. Gross and Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests Chairman and previous state Business and Industry Association chair Stuart V. Smith in The Concord Monitor, calling instead for a ''balanced transportation system'' -- in which passenger rail would ease highway traffic and induce compact development -- accompanied by effective community assistance strategies to promote smart growth.
Citing consultants who found that the costly project by itself would only commit the state to ''a future of continued highway congestion'' in this key corridor, and a state estimate that the widening would bring 35,000 more people to the area than otherwise anticipated by 2020, the authors warn that local communities would bear ''the brunt of this growth'' and face the challenges and costs of expanding municipal services.
''Their sense of community will be eroded,'' they write. ''And their air, water and open space (tens of thousands of acres throughout the region) will be threatened by yet more sprawl and traffic.''
Then, they conclude, ''Let's hope the state DOT changes course by investing our taxpayers dollars into a balanced transportation solution -- a real solution -- that works for the long term and safeguards the health of our communities, citizens and environment. It may not be simple, but it's the only way.'' -- The Concord Monitor 8/29/2004
Resource(s): www.concordmonitor.com/
S.G. Principles Promoted at New Hampshire's Office of Energy and Planning
Since New Hampshire lost 18 percent of its farmland between 1982 and 1997 -- an average of 1,552 acres a year, or a rate roughly twice higher than the population growth -- the state's ''smart growth'' policy established in 2000 seeks ''to make communities more livable and walkable, reduce traffic congestion and preserve open space.''
According to an Associated Press dispatch in The Concord Monitor, the state Office of Energy and Planning promotes eight smart growth principles. Development, the office says, should be compact to ensure efficient use of land, resources and infrastructure; it should accommodate pedestrians and encourage interaction among neighbors; integrate a mix of uses, including housing, shopping and job opportunities; provide choices and safety in transportation; preserve farm and forest land; protect environmental quality; involve the community in planning; and preserve local control but encourage regional cooperation.
For more information about smart growth, the agency directs readers to the web sites of Smart Growth America, the Congress for the New Urbanism, and the Urban Land Institute -- www.smartgrowthamerica.com, www.cnu.org and www.uli.org. -- The Concord Monitor
8/15/2004
Resource(s): www.cmonitor.com/
Natural Barriers, Early Master Plan Helped Waterville Valley Grow Smart
Thanks to its master plan drafted in the 1960s and to natural barriers created by the surrounding White Mountain National Forest, Waterville Valley neither sprawled nor tried to stop development as many other New Hampshire towns did or do -- it was growing dense, compact and pedestrian-friendly, and is now exemplifying increasingly popular precepts of smart growth.
The early master plan, drawn with the help of former Olympic skier and Harvard Business School graduate Tom Corcoran -- whose Waterville Co. acquired some 500 acres, or 80 percent of the town's land -- reports Associated Press writer Anne Saunders in The Portsmouth Herald, let officials put town-wide water and sewer lines underground, save recreational space, and make it clear ''where, and how much, housing would be built.''
With Corcoran's ski resort nearby, about 90 percent of the hundreds of single-family homes and condominiums built in recent years became vacation homes for outside residents, which saved local schools from overcrowding, the writer observes, noting that typical New Hampshire towns try to prevent such overcrowding by establishing large lot minimums, which inadvertently incites sprawl. On the other hand, Waterville home lots and condos sell for about $300,000 and $400,000, which means most people who work in the town can't afford to live there.
Also, many outside residents aren't willing to give up their larger primary residences elsewhere and move to their smaller units in Waterville at least until they retire, the writer finds, adding that's exactly what developers expect. They think the future retirees and empty-nesters will be attracted by low-maintenance housing near shops, with Waterville Co. president Bill Cantlin saying ''that has the potential to drive the engine for this new development.'' -- The Portsmouth Herald
8/15/2004
Resource(s): www.seacoastonline.com/news/index.htm
Growth Cap Considered as Franklin's Tax Cap, Education Investments Make It a Popular Town for Affordable Housing
Long encumbered by its statewide image of empty mills, failed schools and impoverished neighborhoods, Franklin, some 17 miles north of Concord, has invested in better education, capped taxes at the inflation level and became so popular among those searching for affordable housing that officials will begin to discuss a possible growth cap next month.
Franklin home prices have more than doubled since the mid-1990s, but remain $45,000-$138,000 lower than elsewhere in the region, reports Concord Monitor writer Annmarie Timmins, with planner Floyd Sargent, concerned about the recent building permit increase, telling her ''We are looking at 75 to 100 homes in a three-year period. If just half of those houses have kids ... hello. Can our school system take this? Can our city services handle this?''
Realtor Dave Liberatore of C&E Real Estate in Tilton, who sells Franklin on its Webster Lake, the ski slope and the Lakes Region nearby, says, ''People are finding that what they heard about Franklin isn't true or was exaggerated.'' He confirms that many of his clients come with families, mainly from south of Manchester, about 35 miles away, willing to commute 45 minutes one way because of lower Franklin taxes and more house for the money. But he is also seeing many retirees interested in Franklin's retirement complex under construction, where 88 units with two or three bedrooms, garages and quarter-acre lots will start at $124,000, instead of almost $200,000 further to the south. -- Concord Monitor
2/17/2004
Resource(s): www.concordmonitor.com/
New Home Cap Sought by Sutton City Planning Board
In response to 150 petitioners alarmed by Sutton's building spurt
in the past few years, the city planning board voted to put a one-
year home construction cap on the warrant next March, to keep
growth on a par with that of nearby towns and meantime work out a
long-term master plan. Although outsiders may consider the numbers
insignificant, rising from a single-digit average before 1999 to 33
in 2002 and possibly this year, many residents worry about the
cumulative impact on the town's rural character, schools, police
protection and other services, reports Concord Monitor
writer Anne Ruderman.
A building cap, says petitioner Susan Morel, ''won't
eliminate growth but it will manage growth.'' Noting that all the
front lots along town main roads ''are being developed,'' she adds
that the cap will stop a developer from ''coming and hammering us.''
-- Concord Monitor
11/17/2003
Resource(s): www.concordmonitor.com/index.shtml
Gov. Benson Adds Smart Growth Principles to New Hampshire's Formula for Strategic Planning
One of the new Republican governors elected last year, Governor
Craig Benson joined the ranks of top smart-growth political
advocates as he launched his ''New Hampshire Smart Growth
Initiative,'' with the state Smart Growth web site, saying the
initiative ''will encourage municipalities and towns to minimize the
negative impacts of population growth while developing their
economy,'' and adding, ''I've instructed my Office of Energy and
Planning (OEP) to include smart growth principles in their
strategic planning.'' With proper planning, reads the governor's
press release, ''New Hampshire can achieve energy efficient and
environmentally sound housing, commercial, and industrial
development,'' all through the joint work of developers, local
planners and residents toward a common goal of ''saving what is
great about New Hampshire, while supporting the growth that drives
the state's economy.'' On its web site, the OEP cites a 2001
Brookings Institution study, ''Who Sprawls Most? How Growth Patterns
Differ across the U.S.,'' showing that almost all metropolitan areas
are expanding at a rate faster than their population grows,
especially in the Northeast and Midwest. According to the Brookings
data for New Hampshire, the Manchester-Nashua area's population has
grown by 27.9 percent, but urbanized land by 69.5 percent between
1982-97, accounting for a 24.6 percent density drop. In the
Portsmouth-Dover-Rochester area population has grown 31.6 percent
and urbanized land by 76.5 percent, with a 25.4 percent density
drop.
11/7/2003
Resource(s): www.state.nh.us/governor/ ; www.nh.gov/osp/
Report Outlines Steps for Improving Land Use Strategies in New England
''Sprawl is neither the ordained nor the inevitable outcome upon the
New England landscape,'' but the necessary public-private steps to
''improve land use patterns and reduce the cost of local government''
must begin with legislation to eliminate gaps between land use laws of
the region's six states and with incentives for municipal cooperation,
asserts the New England Environmental Finance Center at the University
of Southern Maine's Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service in its
just-posted online ''Model State Land Use Legislation for New England.''
The 97-page study proposes the creation of municipal service districts,
an outcome-based comprehensive planning law and omnibus model
state-level land use control legislation. It points out that in the face of
growing sprawl costs, ''it is incumbent upon all levels of government to
respond in a comprehensive, forceful, and effective manner.''
Specifically, the states and municipalities should acknowledge that they
share land use authority; that the state can and will assert its authority
to fulfill its financial, social, environmental and other responsibilities
when they are jeopardized; that primary land use decision-making
authority can and should reside at the local level, with state review
warranted if state interests and responsibilities are at stake; and that
''when the state asserts authority over municipalities, it must be done
equally and fairly across the state.'' To help the six states ''enact all or
a portion'' of the proposed legal framework, the study organizes the
material in three increasingly specific parts, entitled ''A mechanism to
create a form of regional governance tailored to New England,'' ''A
far-reaching set of amendments to the state-level, comprehensive
land-use planning statutes of Maine, Rhode Island, and Vermont''
(since Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire lack such
statutes), and ''A set of 10 individual provisions which, taken together,
represent omnibus land use legislation.'' The study also defines or
clarifies definitions of impact fee; implementation program;
moratorium; rate of growth, or ''cap'' ordinance; capital budgeting;
cluster development; floating or unmapped zoning; high density
development; infill development; locally unwanted land use (LULU); Not
in My Back Yard (NIMBY); overlay zoning; planned unit (mixed use)
development; and transfer of development rights. 7/18/2003
Resource(s): http://efc.muskie.usm.maine.edu/pubs.htm
Audit of Brookline Smart Growth Master Plan Cites Successes, Suggests More Focus on Home Clusters
New Hampshire's fastest-growing small town, Brookline, is
implementing its 1997 Smart Growth-based Master Plan quite well
with innovative parking ordinances, affordable senior housing and
enough business expansion, but could do better by replacing the
two-acre residential lot minimum with mixed-use higher-density
zoning and by updating sidewalk requirements, said Nashua Regional
Planning Commission senior planner Steve Heuchert in a presentation
to the town's Planning Board, his full audit to be included in the
commission's book entitled ''Smart Growth Versus Sprawl.'' Although
the town no longer enforces the two-acre lot minimum, favoring a
recently presented developer plan to cluster 36 homes on one-acre
lots and keep the rest of an 86-acre site as open space, the
planner earlier told Nashua Telegraph writer Susan Lunt
Childress, ''It's still sprawl. It's still putting people in single-
family homes, out in the hinterland.'' He would rather have the town
contain development in a dense hamlet of homes and shops throughout
or near its old center and make everything accessible within easy
walking distance. That's the way ''to keep the town's center vital,''
he told the board repeatedly, but left some doubts. Board member
Judy Cook noted that mixed residential and commercial use in the
center would require a sewer system, for which the town has no
land, and that the duplexes proposed several years ago drew a
''great hue and cry'' against density. The planner responded that
instead of mixed-use zoning, the town could first introduce
transfer of development rights, adding, ''It's intended to be a slow
process. And a matter of education, in some respects.'' -- Nashua
Telegraph
6/6/2003
Resource(s): www.nashuatelegraph.com/
Concord Redevelopment Authority Would Help Prevent Vacant Lots, Buildings
Concord can avoid vacant lots and buildings in the future by
creating a redevelopment authority, which would give the city ''one
more tool, one more arrow in its quiver, another way to get the job
done,'' said special committee chairman Rodney Tenney, presenting
the City Council with a detailed report on ways to eliminate and
preclude any pocket of deterioration. Almost a year in the making,
reports Concord Monitor writer Meg Heckman, the thick report
envisions an investment of $2 million-$4 million in an authority
run initially by volunteers and city staff, and able to buy and
develop property, seek and award grants, partner with community
groups and bolster its effectiveness through the power of eminent
domain. Such an authority, pointed out chairman Tenney, could also
take over several current or pending projects, including
redevelopment of the tannery and the former Sears block. With Mayor
Mike Donovan calling the possible creation of a redevelopment
authority ''a very significant step,'' the council will held a public
hearing on the proposal next month. -- Concord Monitor
3/11/2003
Resource(s): www.concordmonitor.com/
Proposed N.H. Legislation Would Require Losers of Anti-Construction Lawsuits to Pay All Legal Costs
Finding most lawsuits against New Hampshire construction projects
to be spurred by environmental concerns and considering some
unwarranted, Republican state Senator Robert Clegg is readying
legislation to make unsuccessful plaintiffs or defendants pay both
sides' legal costs, along with those resulting from any work
stoppage, an idea seen by Conservation Law Foundation attorney Tom
Irwin as dictating ''exceedingly bad public policy.'' Senator Cleg
thinks, reports Concord Monitor writer Amy McConnell, that
opponents of state construction should try ''to stop these projects
from happening ... through the public hearing process'' instead of
lawsuits. But attorney Irwin says critics of such projects as the
I-93 expansion can't be certain that decision makers will consider
public objections. He points out that the senator's legislation
could discourage both frivolous and legitimate complaints. He says,
''The reasoning is based on a dangerous assumption, which is that
members of the public who testify at public hearings are listened
to. If there is no judicial review of the manner in which (the
Department of Transportation) develops these projects, then DOT
will truly have free reign in its ability to ignore outright the
legitimate views of the public.'' -- Concord Monitor
1/16/2003
Resource(s): www.concordmonitor.com/
Concord Council Votes to Amend Housing Policy, Support Affordable Housing Construction and Rehabilitation
Unpersuaded by City Manager Duncan Ballantyne's arguments that
Concord already offers a fair share of low-income housing, would
weaken its tax base by providing more and should let the region
take care of this regional issue, the City Council accepted Mayor
Mike Donovan's description of the city's housing policy as
''elitist'' and voted 14-to-1 for amending it with a provision to
support affordable housing construction and rehabilitation.
Backed by the Concord Area Trust for Community Housing, the
Concord Chamber of Commerce and the Capital Regional Development
Council, reports Concord Monitor writer Jennifer Skalka,
the amended policy will let the city apply for up to $500,000
annually from the federal Community Development Block Grants
program, administered by the Office of State Planning. Quoting
Councilor Katherine Rogers, who said, ''I've never known our
community to say, 'We don't want you here unless you can afford
to pay more property taxes','' the writer points out that the city
realizes it must provide more housing for workers to attract new
businesses.
10/25/2002
Resource(s): www.concordmonitor.com/
Editorial: Concord Spends Too Little on Land Preservation
Despite state projections of Concord's population increase from
40,000 to about 50,000 by 2010 and despite huge pressures on
landowners to sell for development, the city ''spends too little''
to preserve its land, warns a Concord Monitor editorial,
hoping that this fall the city council will grant a conservation
commission request to use all money from a land-use change
penalty tax for saving the land either through direct acquisition
of the most threatened parcels or through conservation easement
purchases. The commission now receives only a quarter of that
tax, while several other municipalities and ''smaller communities
with foresight'' earmark it all for conservation. Citing data from
the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests that only
51 percent of the state's 234 municipalities meet the optimal
goal of permanently protecting 25 percent of their land from
development, the editorial wishes Concord would be one of them.
But Concord protects just 3,915 of its 40,768 acres, or 9.6
percent, the editorial says, also citing studies by the
University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension Service and
other institutions showing that ''land in current use'' pays far
more in property taxes than it requires in services and that ''the
opposite happens when the land is chopped into house lots.'' The
editorial ads that keeping land as open space, ''even if it means
spending additional tax revenue to do so, will save money in the
long run.'' -- Concord Monitor
6/24/2002
Resource(s): www.concordmonitor.com/
Boston Area Forum Raises Interest in Local Smart Growth Possibilities
With concern about sprawl, traffic and loss of open space clearly
a political issue in Massachusetts, the Boston College Citizen
Seminar and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) -- which
represents 101 cities and towns around Boston -- brought together
more than 400 area civic leaders, business people and residents to
start work on a new growth-management strategy, reports Boston
Globe writer Anthony Flint, calling the regional forum ''the
strongest showing yet of a grass-roots movement for smart growth.''
National urban consultant and author of ''the Regional City,'' Peter
Calthorpe, thinks Massachusetts may follow Utah, which has recently
adopted smart growth, realizing that the only sensible way to
accommodate growth is to increase density in cities, towns and
villages. But Conservation Law Foundation vice president Stephanie
Pollock believes steering growth into Massachusetts' urban areas
may be more difficult, since the resistance to development is as
intense in many of them as in the suburbs. She also notes that
gubernatorial hopefuls, including former labor secretary Robert
Reich and state Treasurer Shannon O'Brien, are studying growth
management alternatives, with the latter promising to establish a
state planning office like the one in Maryland, which leads in
planning and zoning reform. Quoting MAPC spokeswoman Tracy Lawrence
who expects her group to devise a plan for zoning, land use or
overall state development policy by this fall, the writer directs
readers to its site www.mapc.org to see its new report on growth
trends in Greater Boston, entitled ''A Decade of Change.''
5/23/2002
Resource(s): www.boston.com/
Boston's Growth Creeping Towards Rural New Hampshire Towns
In several towns at the southeastern corner of New Hampshire,
residents are mobilizing to protect their semirural lifestyle
against strong development pressures creeping across the
Massachusetts state line from Boston, reports Boston Globe
correspondent Clare Kittredge, quoting New Hampshire planning
director Jeffrey Taylor, who calls the population growth inevitable
and sees a key growth-management issue in the twice-as-fast land
consumption rate. He also is troubled by a ''disconnect'' between
municipal master plan goals and such means for their realization as
zoning ordinances and by discouragement of housing for moderate-
income families. The lack of affordable housing, he says, will make
people ''move farther away and commute,'' exacerbating traffic,
hiking prices and destroying ''any advantage of living in small New
Hampshire towns.'' Exeter demographer Peter Francese, founder of
American Demographic Magazine, says the whole 15-mile-long seacoast
area of his Rockingham County, between Massachusetts and Maine, ''is
rapidly developing as an edge city to Boston.'' Using census figures
and his own extrapolations, he predicts that area municipalities,
which recorded relatively slower growth in the past decade, will be
growing much faster now, while towns already fast-growing will keep
or accelerate their growth. ''If a huge Wal-Mart goes into Epping
near the Brentwood line,'' he says, ''the towns around will grow
dramatically;'' Freemont's population will jump 40 percent and
development ''will just leapfrog west.'' As to the prospects for
success of the grass-roots group Greenland Concerned Citizens, who
are fighting a Massachusetts developer's proposal to build a big
shopping complex in their small town of 3,200 people, the
demographer doesn't expect they will win.
4/21/2002
Resource(s): www.boston.com/
Gov. Shaheen Endorses $5M ''Seed Money'' Housing Bill for New Hampshire
With rental vacancies in Concord and many New Hampshire communities
consistently under one percent and mostly beyond the reach of
people in lower-income brackets, Governor Jeanne Shaheen endorsed
a bill that would let the state issue $5 million in bonds as seed
money for the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority, which would
leverage additional funds to build affordable housing. The bill's
co-sponsor, state Democratic Senator Beverly Hollingworth,
expressed satisfaction that the hard-debated measure finally
cleared five committees last year and pointed out that by spurring
affordable housing for a growing workforce, the bond money will
also help expand the state's economy. 4/4/2002
Resource(s): www.concordmonitor.com/
Segway ''Scooter'' Finds Supporters in New Hampshire Statehouse
Advancing a vision of New Hampshire economic growth led by local
companies at ''the forefront of technology breakthroughs,'' Governor
Jeanne Shaheen hailed New Hampshire inventor Dean Kamen for his
Segway (the world's first self-balancing Human Transporter) ''that
could revolutionize urban transportation'' and urged lawmakers to
pass Senate Republican President Arthur Klemm's legislation, which
would allow ''the use of Segways on the sidewalks'' in the state. The
governor dismissed Segway's critics, comparing them to ''horse-and-
buggy loyalists'' who thought 90 years ago that ''the automobile was
a fad'' and pointing out that it is ''in New Hampshire's interest for
Segway to succeed.'' The governor said the goals of the state's
first energy plan, under development since last year, are to
increase energy efficiency, protect the environment and help reduce
dependence on foreign oil. She called New Hampshire's beautiful
environment ''crucial to our economic strength and to the quality of
our lives.'' Noting that last year lawmakers provided the first
significant funding for the Land and Community Heritage Investment
Program, the governor urged the passage of bipartisan legislation
to bond up to $10 million for protection of 171,500 acres of
International Paper land in the state's northern part, through a
conservation easement and a purchase of the most environmentally
sensitive tract, including the Connecticut River headwaters area.
Stressing that water is ''a finite resource, the oil of the future,''
the governor proposed three bills to ''protect our groundwater from
big commercial withdrawals,'' to ''remove outdated barriers that
prevent communities from working together'' and to enact ''common-
sense conservation measures.'' Thanking the House for passing her
Clean Power Act, which would cut coal-burning power plant emissions
and reduce ''air pollution that causes global warming and illnesses
like asthma,'' the governor urged her former Senate colleagues to
approve ''what is sure to become model legislation'' nationwide.
1/17/2002
Resource(s): www.nga.org/governors/
New Hampshire Housing Advocates Urge Passage of Affordable Housing Bill
Citing data on the state's severe housing crunch, housing advocates
urged the House Public Works Committee to pass a Senate
appropriation bill from last spring, which would help the New
Hampshire Housing Finance Authority with $5 million for affordable
housing and rehabilitation programs. Authority Director Claira
Monier told the committee that the last such appropriation, in
1988, helped it fund 56 projects and about 1,100 housing units
throughout the state. But in the past seven years, single-family
home prices have risen by 50 percent and two-bedroom apartment
median rent by 32 percent, making it increasingly harder for low-
income residents to find decent living quarters, she noted,
especially since zoning laws in many communities often hinder
affordable housing construction. ''Individuals at the local level
are making it far more difficult, setting up far more hurdles,
ultimately hurting the growth in that town,'' she said. ''The
planning and zoning boards are only thinking about the immediate
tax impacts.'' Concord Monitor writer Lori Ayotte also quotes
New Hampshire Legal Assistance expert Elliot Berry, who called the
situation ''as bad as I've seen it in 25 years,'' stressing that
workers earning $7 an hour can afford under one percent of current
rentals. 1/10/2002
Resource(s): www.concordmonitor.com/
Land Purchase Links Wetlands in N.H. Wildlife Refuge
A year-long drive by the state, its Congressional delegation, local
leaders and conservationists to expand the Lake Umbagog National
Wildlife Refuge -- New England's prime habitat for various
threatened species -- helped the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
conclude a $3.245 million purchase of 6,218 acres in the adjacent
town of Errol from the Boston-based Hancock Timber Resource Group,
with refuge manager Paul Casey stressing that the added forest land
links together many breeding and wetland sites and secures
''significantly improved public access.'' The refuge includes the
8,700-acre shallow lake, whose name means clear water in an Indian
language, along with uplands and freshwater marshes reaching into
Maine. Errol Selectman Fran Coffin says the refuge, drawing
''kayakers and fishermen in the summer and snowmobilers an cross-
county skiers in the winter,'' has been ''a real asset to our
community.'' New Hampshire Republican Senator Judd Gregg and
Congressman Charles Bass, who supported last year's appropriation
of the purchase money from the Land and Water Conservation Fund,
voiced their hope that Congress will continue funding for the
refuge's maintenance and tourist services. Trust for Public Land
area director David Houghton says he is proud of having partnered
with all involved agencies, organizations and individuals ''to help
protect this natural and scenic jewel.'' 12/28/2001
Resource(s): http://www.enn.com/news/
Coal Emissions Reduction Bill Offers Choices, Wins Praise in New Hampshire
In a move that may make New Hampshire the first state to mandate reduction of all four major pollutants from coal-burning plants, officials from the state, several conservation groups and the Public Service power company worked out a compromise bill to improve air quality by giving the company a choice of cutting emissions of carbon, nitrogen and sulfur dioxides and mercury from its three power plants -- though less than previously sought -- or buying "pollution credits" from nearby out-of-state industries, which could achieve such reductions more economically. Governor Jeanne Shaheen, whose more stringent Clean Power Act proposal failed in the legislature last spring, called the amended bill "essential to the health of our citizens, the protection of our environment and our state's future economic success." Chairman of the House Science, Technology and Energy Committee Jeb Bradley pointed out that despite smaller emissions cuts, the bill moves the state in the right direction. Department of Environmental Resources official Ken Colburn said he is not "a believer in the jackpot theory of environmental progress" and called the compromise better than nothing. Concord Monitor writer Mike Recht reports similar praise from forest, lake and lung societies, the Audubon Society and other groups. Still, representatives of the Public Interest Research Group and the Clean Air Coalition faulted the bill for not going "far enough" and promised efforts to strengthen it during the upcoming legislative session. The New Hampshire Sierra Club did not take part in the compromise, but spokeswoman Catherine Corkery said including carbon dioxide emission reduction in the bill "is awesome" and "sends a strong message on the federal level." 11/7/2001
Resource(s): www.cmonitor.com
The constant state and volunteer watch over ...
The constant state and volunteer watch over New Hampshire's more than 150 lakes in the past 15 years has helped improve water quality in 15 percent of the lakes and maintain quality in another 65 percent, with the remaining 20 percent, mostly in southern areas, getting worse due to increased recreational use and intense shoreline development. The most persistent threats to the lakes' well-being include the conversion of summer cottages into year-round homes, whose lawns and paved driveways leave little vegetation to buffer runoff; the fallout of airborne mercury from trash- and coal-burning, which contaminates fish and creates health risks; and the spread of invasive species, with variable milfoil that can choke out local life, in 42 lakes so far. Nevertheless, the lake coordinator at the Department of Environmental Services, Jacquie Colburn, says the state is one of the nation's best at protecting water quality and ensuring public access to waterways. 08.14.2001 8/16/2001
Resource(s): www.concordmonitor.com
Citing new research that shows that dioxin ...
Citing new research that shows that dioxin poses "a serious risk" to the environment, wildlife and human health, with links to cancer, diabetes and learning disorders, Governor Jeanne Shaheen (D) unveiled the nation's first strategy to reduce dioxin emissions by half in the next two years. The strategy builds on the state's success in reducing mercury emissions by 37 percent since 1998. Dioxin is a group of toxic compounds released by forest fires and by medical waste incinerators, wood-fired plants and backyard trash burning, which account for 28.7, 20.3 and 17.1 percent of the state's dioxin emissions in 1999. Environmental Services Commissioner Robert Varney said the state's six wood-fired power plants generate more dioxin than is emitted nationwide, prompting a search for alternative solutions. 3/20/2001
Resource(s): www.enn.com
Citing a 1901 call by Governor Chester ...
Citing a 1901 call by Governor Chester Jordan to save New Hampshire from the threat of excessive timber to scenic beauty and public health, Governor Jeanne Shaheen (D) hailed the state's success in returning forest cover to 85 percent of its land, despite "the dramatic population increases of the last century." These long efforts to protect the state's quality of life and its natural and historic resources must continue, said the governor in her State of the State address, to ensure transmittal of "the richness of our culture and history" to future generations. Calling for strengthening of the last year's Land and Community Heritage Investment Program, the governor said: "And we must also act to better manage the growth that has come with our economic prosperity. We must protect the character and diversity of New Hampshire's landscape from the creeping threat of sprawl. If we do not, we put at risk the very quality of place that is the foundation of our economic success and the very reason so many of us call New Hampshire our home." 1/8/2001
Resource(s): www.state.nh.us
Old N. H. town catches 'smart growth ...
Old N. H. town catches 'smart growth' fever, reports USA Today writer Haya El Nasser from rural Littleton. With a population just under 6,000, Littleton is well ahead of big urban centers in curbing sprawl and facilitating resident's cooperation. For more that two years, the writer says, this picturesque town in the White Mountains has embraced innovative, sometimes drastic, planning concepts: Fill every existing building before putting up new ones and invite citizens to participate in planning decisions through town hall-style meetings. Helped by community planning firm Concordia Inc., the Envisioning Littleton's Future group of about 100 residents, aged 12 to 80, held 16 monthly meetings in a school gymnasium, brainstorming about schools, traffic, recreation and local character. Following the example, town and school officials meet regularly to solve problems and integrate budgets, and Main Street merchants to discuss strategies. Under its Main Street program, Littleton attracted 32 businesses, restored riverfront buildings and an 18th century grist mill, and won recognition as the state's Main Street Community of the Year in 1999. Now the town is planning a $4 million affordable-housing development and pedestrian trials on both sides of the Ammonoosuc River. The writer quotes the director of the Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy, Bruce Katz, as saying that the Littleton blueprint can work in big city neighborhoods, too. 11/22/2000
Resource(s): www.ustoday.com
State government should serve as a role ...
"State government should serve as a role model for smart growth." said Governor Jeanne Shaheen in her State of the State address. Thus, the governor asked the Council on Resources and Development to study how state government may be contributing to sprawl and what it should do to prevent it. Based on this report, she continued "I have directed state agencies to incorporate smart growth approaches into all decision-making." Naming natural resources, clean air and clean water "the very things" that drive New Hampshire economic growth, the governor stressed the state must preserve its special traits -- the traditional character of its communities, its forests and farms, and its historic buildings and downtowns." It must also work with business, local communities and individuals to protect historic sites and open space. Noting that the Land and Community Heritage Commission has proposed a public-private partnership to boost preservation efforts, the governor called upon Democrats and Republicans to come together and start these efforts this year. 2/15/2000
Slow-growth activists in the rural town of ...
Slow-growth activists in the rural town of Stratham, south of Portsmouth, are sounding a battle cry against another Wal-Mart superstore for the area. John Hanna, founder of the grassroot's group Citizens for Stratham, says the town has 12 Wal-Marts within 20 minutes and doesn't need another one. Albert Norman of Greenfield, Mass., who has succeeded against a Wal-Mart project in his city, says communities everywhere "are lining up in opposition to these one-size-fits-all, asphalt and concrete fortresses." His advocacy website sprawl busters.com lists 66 defeated Wal-Mart location proposals. Keith Morris, spokesman for the Arkansas-based retailer, the world's largest, says the chain is doing great, with second quarter sales increased to $38.5 billion and opposition usually limited to "a handful of noisy activists who claim to represent the wishes of a community." In the last five years, he adds, Wal-Mart has failed to build a store only two or three times. 9/13/1999
After a Connecticut River canoe trip with ...
After a Connecticut River canoe trip with Governor Jeanne Shaheen, Vice President Al Gore left $819,000 in Cornish for the river's 29 improvement projects. Pointing to the Administration successes, such as the American Heritage Rivers funding program, the Vice President agreed with those who want Òmore doneÓ to save the environment and faulted congressional Republicans for blocking progress. Observers note that while some New Hampshire activists express frustration over the slow pace of forest protection and mention the former Senator Bill Bradley as their possible pick for the Democratic presidential nominee, others praise the Vice President's focus on fighting sprawl, because Òthe things that are being paved over can't be reclaimed as open space.Ó 7/27/1999
Hailing downtown revival in Manchester, Nashua, Portsmouth ...
Hailing downtown revival in Manchester, Nashua, Portsmouth and in many smaller cities, officials and experts stress that besides bringing back people to city cores, urban revitalization relieves sprawl pressures and helps save the countryside. Many say that New Hampshire could accomplish even more if it followed the example of almost 40 states and offered tax incentives for community and downtown revitalization. Her spokesperson Jayne O'Connor added: "The open space initiative is a large part of the governor's goal to promote Smart Growth." 7/2/1999
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