Forum Yields Interesting New Proposal for 'Wasteland' Lot

Many Hampton officials, residents and beachgoers have often discussed the possibility of a bus or shuttle system to help connect downtown and Hampton Beach during the tourism season.

The developer behind a controversial eight-story A Block contel proposal has said the idea is dead now that it's been rejected by the Hampton Zoning Board. This news has prompted some locals to pitch an idea they think could be highly-profitable for the burned-downed "wasteland" of a lot — an idea that doesn't involve a tall building.

Charlie Preston, a beach resident, made a case for a bus depot of some kind on the lot during a public forum Wednesday night. The forum was designed to gather input on a warrant article to increase a portion of Hampton Beach's 50-foot building height limit.

Preston said A Block could be used as either a staging area or as a hub that could help bring in far more people each summer day than the proposed contel's 54 two-bedroom units. He also said the bus depot could be engineered in more visually appealing way than A Block's current state as a unpaved parking lot, and would help bring big revenue to Hampton without dropping a small skyscraper along the shoreline. 

"It's something to put out there and think about," said Preston, who also said he's opposed to going higher than 65 feet of livable space for any beach building solely because that's the height of the recently-approved condominium for the Shirley Inn-Aegean Motel site.

The idea of a bus depot was also discussed Tuesday night during a meeting about the proposed park and ride on the Route 1-Route 101 interchange on Lafayette Road.

Only eight residents attended Wednesday's forum, which lasted roughly an hour and a half and gave town officials a general idea of the building restriction changes that some local residents would be comfortable passing in March.

Several residents recommended that if Hampton were to pursue a beach height restriction change — whether it be within the area between Ashworth Avenue and F Street shown in the rendering above, or in a larger area — then the height restriction should be based upon maximum living space and stories, not elevator overrides and arbitrary caps.

Some said they aren't in favor of an increase at all, asking the board to consider keeping the 50-foot limit in order to maintain more of a small beach feel and prevent a tall, cluttered skyline that casts shadows across Hampton Beach's sands.

Town Planner Jamie Steffen said there are a few ways the article could now proceed and come to fruition. He said either the Hampton Planning Board can develop a warrant article or sponsor an amendment to the current ordinance, or if the board elects to leave the height as-is — which may not be likely based on some of the comments Wednesday — private citizens can draft a petitioned warrant article.

If the planning board route is taken, Steffen said a public hearing would be held on Dec. 18, and a second hearing would be held on Jan. 8 if necessary. 

The window for petitioned warrant articles is Nov. 11 to Dec. 11, which would be the only time to get a change on the 2014 ballot if the planning board doesn't sponsor an article. 

No petitioners have yet come forward with an article related to building height, according to Steffen.

Officials were pleased with the feedback Wednesday night despite the low turnout, as they're looking to work closely with the public before calling for a change in the height restriction.

"This was a good idea," said Selectman Mary-Louise Woolsey about the forum.