[Cotuit]

Waterville Valley shines as smart-growth example
By Anne Saunders
Associated Press | 8-15-2004

WATERVILLE VALLEY - A person can easily walk to the center of town from anywhere in this community.

Walking paths abound. A pedestrian tunnel lets walkers cross the highway without fear. The post office and shops are a natural gathering place. For those who can’t or don’t want to walk, businesses and the nearby ski resort have organized a shuttle bus.

When planners talk about "smart growth" to combat sprawl, traffic congestion and subdivisions with no sense of community, they point to communities like Waterville Valley as an example.

Waterville Valley has grown by hundreds of condominiums and new single-family homes in recent years. But unlike nearly every other growing town in New Hampshire, Waterville has remained compact rather than sprawling into the countryside.

Statewide, development is devouring open space at roughly twice the rate of population growth. That worries people who value the state’s open space, woods and natural beauty.

Many towns have adopted rules to restrict residential growth and some would like to stop it entirely.

Waterville Valley has not. It has welcomed residential growth and focused on ensuring that it looks nice.

"We’re kind of looking forward to (growing) because right now, it’s kind of difficult for the shops to make it," said Donald Jasinski, head of the Planning Board.

Smart growth is a concept that’s been around for at least a decade, but until recently it was focused primarily on city centers. Now planning experts are looking at how to bring pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use and clustered housing to the suburbs.

But obstacles abound. Banks are wary of financing projects that don’t fall into traditional categories. Developers tend to specialize. Zoning typically divides land into separate uses. And in New Hampshire, fear of adding too many children to the schools encourages large minimum lot sizes.

"Both in terms of government and financing mechanisms, that is all set up to create sprawl," says Michael Pawlukiewicz, director of environment and policy education for the Urban Land Institute in Washington.

Ironically, traditional New England villages are a model for the smart growth advocated by the institute and like-minded organizations. The mix of shops, sidewalks, apartments and single-family homes has an appeal that suburban cul-de-sacs and sprawling retail strips lack.

Much of Waterville Valley’s success stems from a visionary landowner, Tom Corcoran. A former Olympic skier and Harvard Business School graduate, Corcoran started the Waterville Co. in the 1960s. He bought 80 percent of the land in the town, roughly 500 acres, and helped develop a master plan, according to Bill Cantlin, now company president.

Corcoran pushed for water and sewer systems to serve the entire town, allowing for denser development. All the utilities were placed underground.

The master plan preserved recreational space and made it clear where, and how much, housing would be built. Surrounded by the White Mountain National Forest, the town has natural barriers that limit growth.

Corcoran’s ski area gave Waterville an advantage: the addition of hundreds of homes has not brought in more schoolchildren, a major concern for most communities. Only about 10 percent of the homes are owned by year-round residents. The rest are vacation homes.

The creation of a master plan turns out to be a common element in efforts to design village-style developments.

Pinehills, in Plymouth, Mass., is roughly five square miles originally intended for a business’s corporate headquarters.

When that fell through, developer Tom Wallace worked with town officials to create an open-space, mixed-use zone.

Construction is under way for roughly 3,000 new homes - a mix of condominiums, single-family and custom-designed homes clustered in 11 neighborhoods. A town center features a post office, bank, dentist office and small shops.

When finished, the development will occupy only about 30 percent of the land. The plan envisions the rest as open space, including 10 miles of nature trails and four golf courses.

Manchester Sand and Gravel owns 3,700 acres in Hooksett and began working with the town to create mixed-use zones in 1990. One result is the Head’s Pond development, which eventually will have 650 homes, a golf course and a small town green surrounded by shops.

Farther south, plans call for a large commercial development and a parkway that will give Hooksett a much-needed new north-south route through town.

"Mixed-use necessitates a grand vision," said David Campbell, the lawyer for Manchester Sand and Gravel. It also takes substantial resources. "We’ve been at this since 1990. You have to be able to ride out the recessions and the lawsuits."

While large landowners have had the most success using smart growth principles, there are noteworthy smaller projects.

More towns are allowing cluster housing to preserve open space. Riverside Farm Estates in Lee has 82 homes on 164 acres. That includes 42 acres preserved for agricultural use and another 88 as open space.

Unfortunately, many of these developments are aimed at upscale buyers, a small segment of the market. That’s in part because these developments can be expensive given the need to extend sewer, water, roads and other infrastructure into outlying areas.

Most of the people who work in Waterville Valley can’t afford to live there. Susan Hammond, who sells real estate, lives in nearby Campton. Condominiums in Waterville Valley sell for roughly $400,000 and a house lot costs $300,000.

Furthermore, many people aren’t ready to give up their own half-acre. Ron and Nancy Martiniello, of Wilmington, Mass., vacation regularly in Waterville Valley but have no interest in leaving their suburban home to move into a condominium or duplex here.

"Maybe when I’m retired, I’d want something like that," Ron says.

Oddly enough, that’s exactly what developers are counting on. A growing population of empty-nesters is expected to create demand for housing that’s close to shops and requires less maintenance.

Cantlin says once people see village-style developments, they see the value. "Then the bell goes off. This is what life should be like."

As baby boomers retire, "that has the potential to drive the engine for this new development," he said.

From The Portsmouth Herald

[BigCityAttitude]

Wow, sounds fun. Reminds me a lot of Bellows Falls.

[M. Brown]

NH in tha house