Hampden board calls for development changes

HAMPDEN – Seeking to strike a balance between encouraging residential development and preserving the aesthetics of a substantial nature corridor in town, Hampden’s Planning Board on Wednesday pressed for changes in a 122-acre development planned for the southern section of Route 1A.

The suggestions included rethinking how open space is integrated among some of the 61 lots to be built and to provide expanded access to a snowmobile and ski trail. The comments came during the first formal meeting between the board and F&L Properties, represented Wednesday night by Kiser & Kiser, an engineering and development consulting firm.

Despite some reservations, recently re-elected board Chairman Beric Deane indicated that the board wasn’t trying to derail the project, just making careful considerations.

“Right from the start, we’re going to do it in as careful a way as we can,” he said after the meeting.

Wednesday’s meeting was a time for the board to raise questions and concerns early on in the process, providing the developers with at least a sense of where board members stood on aspects of the project.

Among their concerns was leaving space open around a gas pipeline that cuts through a section of the proposed development and that serves as a trail for skiers and snowmobilers. The project sketch plan called for houses closer to the pipeline than town officials were comfortable with, both from a standpoint of recreational users and residents having to put up with the noise and activity so close.

The project, as it stood Wednesday, called for a combination of 21 2-acre lots and 40 clustered homes reminiscent of a neighborhood, a mixture that board member David Caliendo described as “innovative.” At the same time, however, Caliendo assured the developers that the project as a whole would be considered under the more stringent rules governing the cluster development and not the traditional development rules.

Board members also questioned the placement of some units on land where the soil was reported not to be suitable for the kind of development proposed. And in another section, the presence of ledge raised questions among board members, as well as the public, about the use of subsurface septic systems.

Citing the property – the former Perry family fields – as an undisturbed wilderness corridor, Deane made it clear that the growing consensus among board members is that they were interested in maximizing the open space available. He said they were interested in integrating more open space on the property, rather than accepting a payment or additional property elsewhere in lieu of the open space on site.

The board’s suggestions fell far short of scrapping the project altogether, as some neighboring residents had wanted when news of the proposed development first spread.

Wednesday’s meeting drew about two dozen people, although only a handful addressed the board. Their comments Wednesday won’t be considered during board deliberations although the public will be afforded a chance to go on the record at a later meeting.

Joseph Lebrun is one abutting neighbor and his family has lived there since 1953, alongside a small tree farm of spruce, fir and white pine. He wanted as much of the nature quality preserved as possible and wondered whether increased fire services would be needed in the area when the development goes up.

Neighbor Ardeana Hamlin also voiced concerns about retaining the pastoral qualities of the property as well as public access to it. But Wednesday she also wondered about the impact on traffic the new development would have on an already busy road, Route 1A.

The developers are expected to review the input provided, make revisions and return to the board in a couple of months.