City's expectations high ahead of State School plan announcement

LACONIA — Mayor Andrew Hosmer, in his first inaugural address, spoke of “a brighter and more prosperous future” for the city, and he encouraged the audience to look to the future with imagination and determination.

“Let’s be bold,” Hosmer said.

Wednesday night, Hosmer and other city leaders, together with members of the public, will listen to a proposed plan to redevelop the site of the Laconia State School in what the planning board chair is calling the biggest development project in the city’s history.

Will what is to be unveiled be seen as a bold idea that could usher in a prosperous future for the city?

Will it conform to the Legislature’s 2017 charge, in a bill initiating a process to redevelop the site, “for self-sustaining economic development and job creation?”

Hosmer and others say they are waiting to see.

The city has strongly advocated that the 225-acre site be developed into a mix of residential, commercial and other uses. It also wants to see significant green space along with walking trails and other recreational amenities that can be used by the general public. The city is also looking for a plan that protects the abutting Ahern State Park, which has 3,500 feet of shoreline on Lake Winnisquam.

The city is waiting to see how the plan that will be presented meshes with expectations outlined in a letter Hosmer sent to state Administrative Services Commissioner Charlie Arlinghaus, whose agency currently oversees the property, as well as the search for a private investor to purchase and develop the site.

Wednesday night's meeting will take place at City Hall starting at 7 p.m. The meeting is open to the public, although seating will be limited because of the relatively small size of the council chambers. The event will also be livestreamed on the city’s YouTube channel.

Hosmer stressed that the residences — whether homes or apartments — expected to be included in the plan need to be what middle-class people can afford.

Hosmer and members of the council will also be listening carefully to just how much the developer is prepared to invest in new infrastructure for the property, including public water and sewer.

In addition to installing new utilities, Hosmer and members of the council have questions about what highway improvements will be necessary to handle the higher volume of traffic the development would generate.

“We don’t want there to be traffic jams on Meredith Center Road or Parade Road,” Hosmer said.

Both Meredith Center Road and North Main Street/Parade Road that bound the site are maintained by the state.

Hosmer said a detailed traffic study will need to be included in the development plan. Further, he suggested the state take some of the money it makes from the sale of the land and place it in escrow to be used to pay for highway widening or other traffic improvements.

City Councilor Bruce Cheney said what is utmost on his mind is a detailed outline of what the development will include.

“I really want a more explicit breakdown of what will go where,” said Cheney, whose ward — Ward 1 — includes the State School property. “I want it to be clear what we are talking about.”

But fellow Councilor Bob Soucy doubts there will be much in the way of specifics at the presentation.

“I don’t think we’ll hear any details until after the ownership of the property passes” from the state to the developer, which he does not think will happen until some time in the second quarter of next year.

Soucy said he wants to see how the developer plans to achieve “planned and managed growth.” For that to happen he said the city and the developer will need to have a good working relationship as the project proceeds — a process he envisions will likely go on for “six, eight, or nine years.”

“This is the largest development project in the city’s history,” said City Planning Board Chair Peter Brunette. “It’s bigger than Urban Renewal.”

Brunette believes that the scope of the project will overwhelm the city’s ability to exercise the proper oversight to ensure the developer adheres to the city’s planning and zoning regulations.

Last Friday, Brunette said he intends to ask the Planning Board to recommend that the city impose a temporary moratorium on building permits or site plan approvals to give the city time to gauge just how this development will impact the city.

Under state law such a moratorium cannot exceed one year.

Brunette noted that the city’s Master Plan, which he called “woefully out of date,” does not take into account a major development happening in an area of the city that is currently zoned for minimum lot sizes of 2 acres.

He said the secrecy that has surrounded the effort to find a buyer for the property means the state has not received the necessary level of input from the city’s Planning Department and Planning Board, which will be responsible for overseeing and regulating any development proposals that are presented.

“I’m concerned that assurances have been made [to the prospective buyer] that ‘we would get our approvals [from the city], so let’s go.’”

Hosmer said if the Planning Board were to recommend a moratorium the matter then goes to the city council which then would then vote whether to approve or reject such a step.

He said if the city was to get a flood of applications for construction the council would have to take a serious look at how to deal with that. However, Hosmer said he expects the development will be rolled out gradually as part of a multiyear plan stretching out over as much as eight years.