Group to review options for land in Peterborough
Committee looking at Evans Flats
By Casey Farrar
Sentinel Staff
Published: Wednesday, July 30, 2008
PETERBOROUGH — A 40-acre property known as Evans Flats is back in the forefront of town business.
Four years after voters trounced a proposal to sell a 4-acre piece of the land for a Stop & Shop, selectmen have formed a committee to determine the fate of the property.
The 10-member committee, made up of neighbors of the property and local leaders in construction, arts, recreation, finance, business and conservation, will have six months to come up with a plan for the land.
Selectmen chose Evans Flats neighbors Laura Campbell and Loretta Laurenitis; building contractor Ian Ferguson; Maria Belva, a local chorale instructor; Paula Stewart, from the town recreation committee; businessman and neighbor George Duncan; Gordon Kemp, chairman of the budget committee; Edmund L. Henault, head of the open space committee; Ivy Vann, an alternate on the planning board; and Roland Patten, who has been on several town committees, including the recreation and budget committees, and a former selectman.
David Enos, who is on several town committees, was chosen as a non-voting facilitator.
Irene Thibault, Jay Purcell, John Vance, Leslie Lewis, Thomas Eroline, Sheila Kirkpatrick and Chester Soule also applied, but were not selected.
The committee’s recommendation is expected to be presented at next May’s town meeting.
Evans Flats stretches between Route 101, Elm Street and Evans Street, forming a roughly 40-acre box on the western edge of Peterborough.
The property next to Route 101 is privately owned, and contains the future site of a Shaw’s supermarket and CVS.
The town-owned land, about 27 acres, contains the town highway garage, and not much else. Nearly one-third of it is designated as wetland.
Last year, the Master Plan Steering Committee recommended the garage be moved to the new wastewater treatment plant on Pheasant Road.
Conservation land flanks the west side of the town-owned property, and some residents have suggested the rest of the flats be turned over for conservation, rather than developed.
After facing scrutiny at this year’s town meeting from several residents who said he’d already made his mind up how to develop the property, selectmen Chairman Joe J. Byk said Tuesday he will not have a role in the committee’s study, aside from being a resource.
“As a result of feedback at town meeting, I really want this to be an exercise that is done by this committee … ,” Byk said, later adding that he is stepping aside to assuage any concerns that the committee’s findings will be biased.
With 17 applicants for the committee, selectmen narrowed the list to 10 members at Tuesday’s board meeting, but encouraged anyone interested in the study to attend committee meetings.
“Hopefully people will come to the meetings,” said Selectman Elizabeth M. Thomas. “They’re open to the public and this committee will listen to the public as they go along.”
Byk said this study will be more complete than previous ones.
“A lot of people have spent a lot of time on this, but now we have a rare opportunity to do proactive planning, as opposed to reactionary planning when a proposal is made that people don’t like,” Byk said, adding a comprehensive plan for the whole property has never been made.
Tensions over what to do with the town-owned portion of Evans Flats date back to the 2004 vote to reject the supermarket.
After voters rejected the proposal, a “charrette,” or informal planning group, was formed among neighbors of the property to discuss possible uses.
The charrette called for mixed use, low-impact development, according to Byk’s presentation at May’s town meeting.
Other proposals for the land in 2004 included a municipal or public-safety building and a private company’s pitch of a biodiesel plant. Both ideas died before they reached voters.
Another proposal for the land included a performing-arts center and boutique hotel, which also never saw a vote.
Then in 2006, residents approved a study for possible affordable housing on the property. Nothing came of the study, according to Byk.
Complicating the current study is a 4-acre piece of land in the southeast corner of the flats, which includes the 11,388-square-foot former National Guard Armory, that remains in limbo.
The town has negotiated with the N.H. Charitable Trust, which controls the property, to buy the land for only the cost of the legal fees related to the sale, according to Byk.
But before the hand-over, which is scheduled for September, is finalized, officials want to see the results of an environmental study on the land, Byk said.
Town Administrator Pamela L. Brenner said the study hasn’t begun yet, because officials are waiting for the National Guard to grant access to the land.