NEW DURHAM, NH—Many New Hampshire Lakes Region communities are beginning to experience the development pressure that started in the southern portion of the state and is working its way north. Communities like New Durham, Farmington and Wakefield are seeking ways to manage the rapid pace of growth that they have experienced during the past few years.
More than 25 community leaders and area residents sought insights and answers at a recent workshop, “Balancing Growth, Taxes and Open Space,” held in New Durham. The workshop was organized by Moose Mountains Regional Greenways with grant funding provided by New Hampshire Estuaries Project.
Phil Auger, Land and Water Conservation Educator for UNH Cooperative Extension, overviewed several economic studies that illustrated the relationship between open space, residential and commercial development, and tax rates in a number of New Hampshire towns. One study that examined all New Hampshire communities demonstrated that those with the highest ratio of undeveloped land per year-round resident have the lowest tax bills. Conversely, the residents of towns with larger tax bases, more year-round residents, and more commercial/industrial property pay the highest taxes.
Residential development is the most costly to municipalities. In almost all instances, the cost of providing community services – including public K-12 education, police and fire – exceeds the amount of tax revenue generated by each residential dwelling.
Business development, on the other hand, requires fewer community services and is far less costly to a community than residential development in the short term. In fact, business development even generates a positive cash flow in taxes to the host community.
The long-term impact, however, is another story. Big business often draws new job seekers to a region, who in turn become residents requiring more commercial services – supermarkets, banks, restaurants, dry cleaners – as well as municipal services. “It becomes part of a larger, long-term cycle that perpetuates itself,” said Auger. “We’ve already seen this happen in the southern part of the state.”
“Although current use land doesn’t generate much in taxes, it doesn’t cost the community in services either,” he said.
New Hampshire’s population has doubled since 1950, and it is expected to triple by 2020. Each year, New Hampshire loses approximately 20,000 acres of open space to new development.
Auger charted the rate of growth in New Durham. The town’s year-round population, 2,220 in the 2000 census, is expected to grow nearly 60 percent by 2020, according to the New Hampshire Office of Energy and Planning.
“That’s a very high rate of growth,” he said.
The community is in the process of revising its master plan.
New Durham’s neighbor to the south, Farmington, is struggling to address similar growth pressures. The town implemented a one-year moratorium on development while its ZAMP (Zoning And Master Planning) committee examines and proposes amendments to the local ordinances to address the community’s changing needs.
Auger described some of the steps that other New Hampshire communities
have taken to address the rapid pace of development. The town of Brentwood,
located on the Massachusetts border, recently conducted a detailed fiscal
impact analysis that measured the financial impacts of the actual development
that had occurred in the community during 2002. The community calculated
that undeveloped land generates town revenues that exceed the cost of
town services by 17 percent. The report also emphasized that, “Open space
also carries aesthetic, environmental and groundwater protection value.”
According to Auger, one of the greatest upcoming challenges for rapidly
developing New Hampshire communities will be their ability to provide
enough drinking water to support their increasing populations. While New
Hampshire has substantial drinking water resources, the quality of these
resources is at risk. Currently, only 12 percent of the land critical
to public water supplies is protected. “By 2020, this is going to be a
big problem,” Auger said. “Communities like Seabrook, Manchester, Portsmouth
and Rochester are already actively looking for alternative water resources.”
Many New Hampshire municipalities are experimenting with both regulatory
and voluntary strategies to preserve their most important natural resources.
Some towns, such as Gilmanton, NH, have implemented open space subdivision
ordinances, also known as alternative design subdivisions or ADS. “The
most effective ADS ordinances provide incentives to developers who preserve
the most important natural features of a property, including uplands,”
Auger explained. “The developer may then build at a higher density on
the remaining land.”
He also described Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) ordinances, which
have been effectively implemented in other states as well as in a handful
of New Hampshire communities, including Bedford and Dover. A TDR allows
a town to designate certain areas of the community as high priority for
conservation, and other areas as appropriate for development. The ordinance
provides incentives for developers to purchase land in both areas of town,
preserve the land in the “conservation” area, and build at greater density
in the “development” area – often located near the town center, where
services are most accessible.
Several southern New Hampshire towns, which are experiencing the greatest
development pressure, have already voted to designate funding to preserve
the most important remaining undeveloped land in the community via fee
purchase or conservation easement. “A conservation easement is a practical
way for landowners to protect environmentally significant land while retaining
ownership of it,” Auger explained. Protected land can still be transferred
or sold with an easement in place.
Although repeated studies have demonstrated that communities with more
undeveloped land have the lowest tax bills, Auger is quick to point out
that each town is unique. “Land protection tends to stabilize the tax
bill over the long term, but every community is different,” he said. “What
works in one town won’t necessarily work in another.” The average age
of residents, the number of seasonal homes compared to year-round homes,
number of school-age children in the community are important factors to
take into account. Auger encouraged town leaders to look closely at their
individual community natural resources, demographic makeup and housing
inventory when conducting their own fiscal impact studies.
Auger will present a second workshop focusing specifically on voluntary
land protection measures on Tuesday, April 13. The “Land Protection and
Estate Planning” workshop will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. in the New Durham
Library, 2 Old Bay Road. The workshop is free and open to the public,
but attendance will be limited to 60 participants. Pre-registration is
strongly encouraged. To register, call 603-817-8260 or email info@moosemountaingreenway.org.
These workshops are presented by Moose Mountains Regional Greenways, with
grant funding provided by New Hampshire Estuaries Project. Moose Mountain
Regional Greenways is a non-profit organization that works to protect
and connect the most special undeveloped lands of Brookfield, Farmington,
Middleton, Milton, New Durham and Wakefield, New Hampshire.
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