Citizens Gather to Address Development

by Maureen Gillum

Almost 70 residents packed the Ann Seabury Room at the Hudson Police Station last Thursday night (2-15-07) to review and discuss RiverPlace and overall development plans for the town.

The meeting was initially touted as the first meeting uniting two citizen groups – Friends of Green Meadow (FGM) and Hudson Grass Roots Central (HGRC). FGM are neighbors of the golf course who tracked Green Meadow development since late 1995, including Bill Cole, Kathy Leary, and Connie Owens. A virtual e-mail group of residents, HGRC is led by Hudson realtor, Ron Peters, who opposes RiverPlace and development.

FGM leaders (from left) Kathy Leary, Bill Cole, and Connie Owens.

What was expected to be a chaotic gripe session against RiverPlace, turned out to be a well-orchestrated meeting aimed to inform, involve and enable citizens in the total development process of Hudson. About a dozen people raised their hands as representatives of either FGM or HGRC – just 20 percent of the attendees. From the start, former Hudson Selectman, Bill Cole, who led the meeting, targeted to unite attendees under the umbrella of “concerned Hudson residents.”

FGM’er Ed Thompson, commented, “This meeting has been planned for months, it was only in the last week that HGRC jumped into this.” Unfortunately, due to a sudden illness of his wife that morning, Peters couldn’t attend, announced Cole. Thompson clarified the many large red lawn signs and bumper stickers, which asked: RiverPlace Project: What about the Traffic? was not their message, “We’re not even sure where these came from; they were here when we got here.”

The citizen’s meeting opened with speculations on Hudson size, zoning breakdowns, and town developments in process. Most unwitting citizens gasped when Cole revealed, “There are 36 commercial and residential development plans in Hudson, including those in process, proposed or expected to be proposed shortly.” In addition to the proposed 2.1 million square feet of RiverPlace (in its full three-phase build), he cited commercial developments, including Nottingham Square (51,000 square feet, under construction, 140 Lowell Road) and Hudson Village (66,000 square feet of “upscale retail,” between New Life Church and Pete’s Gun and Tackle) proposed just two months ago. Local residential developments include: Wason Heights, Vista Knoll, Nadeau Farms, Crow Development, James Way, and Hudson Hills.

Cole also reviewed the status of RiverPlace. In short, after W/S Development submitted its initial plans to the town (1-19-07), the Hudson Planning Board returned proposed plans (2-7-07) citing wetland exemptions were first needed from Hudson’s Zoning Board of Adjustments (ZBA). He also thought, “RiverPlace will bear no resemblance to what we’re seeing today” as “the project is conceptually unmanageable.”

Given the project’s “massive scale;” proximity to the river; wetlands; the “glacial speed” of town government, made up of “volunteers like us that work full-time with families;” along with state/federal permitting and approval, Cole estimated, it will likely be “six to 18 months before (RiverPlace) plans will be submitted again.” The golfer smiled, “I’m relatively confident we’ll be playing at Green Meadow next summer and perhaps after.”

Cole cited Hudson’s total land mass at about 18,000 acres. Roughly 10,000 acres are currently zoned as “G” or “G-1” for “mixed (commercial and residential) use,” which Cole called, “Hudson’s real ticking bomb.” He also acknowledged, “We can’t simply say to no all development, nor would we want to.” Instead, Cole called for “manageable development” and encouraged an overall “Master Plan” that would encompass all of Hudson’s projects in total, related issues, long-range goals, and policies.

FGM advocates, Kathy Leary and Connie Owens, echoed Cole. “Too much of this town is zoned as G or G-1, which allows for such development,” emphasized Leary, “We’re not going to stop Hudson development, but we need to be a part of it to protect the long-term interest of the town, its residents and our quality of life.” She also mentioned, “It is the many little things -- from zoning ordinances to parking space size regulations -- that we need to monitor in this long process and we’ll need help from many residents with various skill sets (legal, engineering, financial).”

A resident of Hudson for more than 20 years, Owens reminded attendees, “It is our town to run,” and our selectmen and boards are all “there for us.” With clipboard in hand, she encouraged attendees to join their network; monitor the town Website (www.ci.hudson.nh.us) for updates on RiverPlace, meetings and minutes; call the Hudson BOS (Board of Selectmen, 886-6024); attend meetings or view them on Hudson Cable TV (Channel 20, 21 and 22). To the applause of many, Owens concluded, “Be heard and do not sit back. It is our town, our government, and our responsibility. Let’s kick butt and take names!”

Numerous townspeople also spoke up at the meeting regarding quality of life; traffic; pollution; property rights; the environment; the circumferential highway; escalating taxes; and the 1977 public defeat of the proposed dog track.

Colleen Varney, a resident of Lowell Road since 1963, complained, “I’m very upset and have emphysema; I can’t even go out on my porch or open my window in summer because the car fumes are so bad now -- never mind with RiverPlace.”

“Each time developments are proposed, we’re promised lower taxes,” interjected Fran, another audience member, “We were told that when Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club came; but in the 50 years I’ve lived in Hudson, I’ve never seen my taxes go down.”

Ed Thompson, a Hudson Water Utilities board member, commented, “The devil is in the details.” He cited, Howard Dilworth Jr., Vice Chair of Sewer Utility Commission, at the deliberative (2-10-07), “We (Hudson) by virtue of our ownership (12.58 percent Nashua Wastewater Treatment Plant or NWTP) are allocated 2 million gallons a day and we’re approaching that limit; today we have about 75,000 gallons a day we have left to allocate to citizens and businesses.” Despite Hudson’s new water tank (south end, spring 2007) and potential capacity expansion with NWTP (if Warrant Article 24 passes with 2/3 majority vote on 3-13), Thompson shared, “Hudson faces serious water and sewerage issues, regardless of RiverPlace.”

Several commented, RiverPlace was “only the start” and would attract greater Hudson commercialization. Some believed, it may “already be too late to really impact or change RiverPlace” and given Green Meadows’ 375 acres only represents about three percent of the G and G-1 10,000 acres, future efforts should protect Hudson’s remaining acreage in jeopardy.

Most agreed, the “collective impact” of Hudson’s three dozen proposed developments, including RiverPlace, will not just be felt in the south end or even Hudson, but regionally. “This will have cataclysmic impact on our entire region – down into Dracut and Tyngsborough, Massachusetts; up into Litchfield and Merrimack; across into Nashua as well as Pelham and Windham.” warned Cole.

“This land is not going to be left undeveloped; so what is it you want Hudson to look like in 20 years?” queried Paul Johnson. A Nashua CASNH (Citizens Action for Southern New Hampshire) activist, Johnson helped prevent a 166,000 square foot Super Wal-Mart from infiltrating Nashua wetlands. He warned, “Hudson needs to be careful not to over focus on RiverPlace and miss the big picture of overall development.” He also advised citizens to “Think regionally, think big picture, and use available tools, like the Nashua Regional Planning Commission (www.nashuarpc.org).”

Johnson closed, “Growth and development are going to happen; the goal is to reduce impact, control the pace of growth, and keep with the town’s long-term vision. It’s all about planning and making people part of the process.”

FGM leaders collectively called upon Hudson citizens to unite, get involved, and help “our volunteer town officials” as “watchdogs” of these “monumental” developments as “our duty, obligation, and right.” Surprisingly absent were most town officials, with the exception of a few, including BOS Chair, Rick Maddox.

“We do have say and control,” encouraged Cole -- by voting and actively being part of the process to help monitor, set plans, parameters, and vision for Hudson’s “manageable development.” He asked those interested to e-mail him at: BCFairway@msn.com. Cole heralded in conclusion, “It is time to take control of our town’s development, which is not a negative,” but it will require “a lot of heavy lifting from all of us.”

The Citizen’s meeting (2-15-07) on development at the Hudson Police Station
is standing-room-only.