Board Accepts Grant to Spur Downtown Growth

Hampton selectmen unanimously accepted Monday a $37,500 grant in the hopes it can bring a sizable boost in housing, business and cultural opportunities to the downtown area.

The two-year Community Challenge Planning Grant, awarded through the New Hampshire office of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, will be used primarily to cover consulting and analysis costs for regulation changes and their implementation, according to Town Planner Jamie Steffen.

Steffen said the grant "comes pretty cheap" for the town thanks to a low match obligation. He said the money will help Hampton "develop land use regulations," "plan for physical improvements to downtown," "encourage a more friendly," "aesthetic" and "walkable" downtown, and formulate a use plan for the abandoned rail system along Lafayette Road, among other things.

"I’m excited by it," Steffen told selectmen Monday. "I think it’s a great opportunity for the town. There's been a lot of talk about how we need to improve downtown, how we need to do something about traffic congestion, and how we need talk about the abandoned rail corridor, so I think this can address those needs."

The two-year grant requires a 25 percent, or $12,500, match, although Steffen said the cash portion of that match requirement is only about $3,000. He said the rest of the match is covered by in-kind services.

Steffen said the first year of the grant — which is similar to the grants received by Seabrook, Hampton Falls, Portsmouth and Dover from the roughly $550,000 awarded by the state — will be used to pay for collecting data as part of a land use analysis of the transportation and railway corridors.

From there, Steffen said the town will use the rest of the money to "look at zoning and regulatory changes" in the hopes the changes "will foster a more mixed-used, pedestrian-friendly" form of downtown as well as develop the railway corridor in a way that "incorporates existing civic activities" and paths along the system.

He said these things could be accomplished through new home and business construction along Lafayette Road, including buildings with storefronts on the ground floor and residential units on upper floors.

A bike path system connecting Seabrook with Portsmouth has been proposed for the railroad land, as has an idea to turn the railroad into a developed, multilane roadway in order to convert Route 1 into two separate, one-way streets.

Selectman Mike Pierce said selectmen "need to discuss [the latter] point very carefully" in addition to the other ideas, which have also included a large, .

Pierce said he thinks the town "should consider" both the trail and state highway options, especially since he said the public in the past has "vigorously" shot down proposals for bike path projects.

Selectman Phil Bean said he liked "the sound of the project," and said the town has done "good work" on a grant that has "minimal" financial impact on Hampton.

Steffen said the estimated completion date for work funded through the grant is June 30, 2014. He said he plans to get started "as soon as possible" now that the grant is accepted. The next steps will include getting "a consultant on board," requesting estimates for the work, establishing an advisory committee and setting public forums about the scope of project, according to Steffen.

Steffen said the grant program requires a "strong public input component."