100-Foot-Tall Beach Contel Would Be 'Conducive' to Positive Change

An influential beach commission is urging the Hampton Zoning Board to approve a controversial 100-foot contel project for Hampton Beach's A Block, stating that the building is "feasible" for the area even if it isn't ideal.

John Nyhan, chairman of the Hampton Beach Area Commission, told selectmen this week that his board wants the zoning board to grant a variance Thursday for the eight-story structure and "come up with a joint solution" to bring the building to 275 Ocean Blvd. in way that allows "economic development" to continue to progress along Hampton Beach. 

Nyhan said his board has received several assurances from the applicants that the building's eight street-level commercial stores will be "upscale" establishments "conducive to families," unlike the shops on nearby B Block that he said "are not the retail stores we want on Hampton Beach."

This, among other things, helped gain the HBAC's support.

"In our support [of the project], we realize we’re asking the zoning board to make an exception, and that it also goes against what was originally recommended regarding scale by our own commission," said Nyhan, adding that height restrictions may need to be altered in the future. "All I can say to you is… the beach is changing, and a lot of things that were written and talked about in 2001 [are] different than 2013. We wish we had a better solution for this premiere property, but we don’t, and we don’t see anyone coming forward with a better solution keeping within the height restriction because of the cost of the properties."

Hampton has a 50-foot limit on building height, and any developers seeking a taller structure must secure a variance from the zoning board, among other things, in order to bring it to fruition.

That said, Green and Co. Building and Development Corporation, the developers behind the proposed 56-unit multi-family structure on the burned-down A Block site, did recently receive a variance for a 65-foot-tall Hampton Beach project.

Selectmen tried to block the 65-foot building, but compromised in order to avoid a lawsuit.

Members of the board voiced strong opposition to the A Block proposal Monday night, with Selectman Mike Pierce stating that approval of a 100-foot structure of any kind could create a domino effect with building height precedence — especially since Green and Co. has already come back with a taller proposal after securing a Hampton zoning variance. 

Nyhan is urging, though, that the community to look at some of the potential tax benefits for a building that would take a "major eyesore" currently "hurt[ing] Hampton Beach" and turn it into something that better represents and supports the area. He also said the application and circumstance are unique, and should be the only 100-foot project ever approved in Hampton.

"This project can only be feasible on the A Block," said Nyhan, adding that on July 4 the parking lot that currently exists on the site charged $50 for parking, which is an amount he said "is not conducive to bringing families" to the area. "We are not in support of this type of project [or this height] on any other block of Hampton Beach."
               
The current parking lot "only contributes $34,000 in estimated tax revenue" to Hampton, while the proposed building would "contribute close to $500,000," according to Nyhan. 
  
Zoning board members don't discuss proposals before their scheduled public hearings on any given project, and one member has said he is waiting to take a side until after Thursday night, when he can hear all of the arguments for and against the project.

Still, selectmen said Monday that the zoning board shouldn't have the deciding power over projects that don't fit within restrictions approved at town meeting, and asked that the zoning board not grant a variance Thursday.

"I think it would be part of our approach to have the legislative body... decide [at town meeting whether to approve the project]," said Pierce, adding that the HBAC is "wrong to endorse" the 100-foot building "in any way, shape or form" regardless of circumstance. "I think the zoning board… in my opinion should not be a small group of people deciding what is good for Hampton when the legislative body… should have a say in this."