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Town Debates Land, Use of Region Agency

Posted on: Saturday, 10 December 2005, 00:00 CST

By Patrick Meighan, The Telegraph, Nashua, N.H.

Dec. 7--MERRIMACK -- It's 563 acres of town land, but a regional agency will play a large part in the process of deciding who can do what, where they can do it, and who will manage the various, often competing interests.

During the first meeting of a group that will draft a site plan for the Horse Hill Nature Preserve, resident Bob L'Heureux objected that the Nashua Regional Planning Commission will manage the process.

Under questions from L'Heureux on Monday night, Tim Tenhave said that the town is paying the regional commission up to $18,000 for facilitating the effort. Tenhave, who chairs a town committee that has been overseeing plans for Horse Hill, said director decided to use the regional planning agency's expertise.

The regional commission has a huge database of information, a professional planning staff and elaborate computer mapping technology, said Kerrie Diers, the agency's assistant director, who attended the meeting at Merrimack Town Hall.

L'Heureux, a state representative and chairman of the House Fish and Game Committee, wasn't impressed.

The town should have free access to the regional commission's services because of the dues it pays, he said. Spending $18,000 isn't necessary, L'Heureux said, because the town has the resources and expertise to facilitate the meeting without the planning agency's help.

"We have a very capable group of people right here who have come up with a good plan," L'Heureux said. "Why do we have to spend $18,000?"

A master plan already exists for the tract of swamp, field and forest. Residents at the 2002 Town Meeting agreed to buy the land for $4.2 million to prevent a chunk from being developed into homes.

While the master plan established permitted uses for the land, the site plan, known as a definitive plan, delves deeper, outlining what will be allowed where on the site, and how the various uses will be managed.

For example, under the master plan hiking and hunting are allowed, and about 50 acres can be developed for athletic fields. Snowmobiles are permitted, but all-terrain vehicles aren't yet, although the plan leaves the door open for ATVs to be allowed later under certain conditions.

About a dozen people representing such activities were invited to the Monday night meeting, the first in a series planned to work toward building a consensus around the definitive plan.

Those invited included enthusiasts of archery, snowmobiling, youth sports, ATV, horseback riding and mountain biking, as well as residents who live near the preserve, which lies south of Amherst Road and west of Naticook Road in the west-central part of town.

The definitive plan has to abide by the master plan, Tenhave said. The final decision on the plan rests with the board of selectmen, he said.

Under a proposed timetable, the consensus-building group is scheduled to meet seven more times before a May 15 public information meeting on its work.

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Copyright (c) 2005, The Telegraph, Nashua, N.H.

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Source: The Telegraph

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