Golf club owners say site will be developed

By RYAN J. HALLIDAY and ASHLEY SMITH, Telegraph Staff

Published: Thursday, May. 17, 2007

HUDSON – Golfers and open-space advocates shouldn’t be popping champagne just yet.

Riverplace opponents celebrated the news that plans to build a massive open-air shopping center on the sprawling 375-acre golf course have been scrapped, but Green Meadow owners say they are still bent on developing the site.

“We look at the Green Meadow site as an opportunity,” said Jay Leonard, the attorney who represents Green Meadow Golf Club.

Leonard said Wednesday the club owners plan to immediately begin shopping their property to other developers.

“We’re obviously very disappointed, but we are going to develop the property,” Leonard said, adding that “a lot” of developers are interested in the site.

There’s no specific developer in mind yet, but the Friel family, who own the golf course, are committed to developing the 375-acre site with a single master plan, unless the town says otherwise, Leonard said.

“We are committed to developing it responsibly,” he said. “It’s an important piece of land in southern New Hampshire.”

Green Meadow representatives are scheduled to meet with the planning board May 23 to discuss future uses for the site.

“They’re going to give us an idea of what they want to do with that property,” said Town Planner John Cashell.

There are a number of potential uses for the property, which overlooks the Merrimack River.

The vast majority of Green Meadow is zoned “General 1,” meaning single-family or duplex homes can be built on the site with subdivision approval by the planning board. The zoning limits each housing lot to at least 2 acres, with a minimum of 200 feet of frontage.

Elderly housing and multi-family housing is not allowed under the current zoning, said Cashell.

G-1 zoning also allows for an array of commercial or industrial uses on the site, pending a site plan review by the planning board, said Cashell.

The assessed value of the property is around $4 million, but the site would undoubtedly fetch much more than that from a developer on the open market.

Selectmen Chairman Shawn Jasper said he was “somewhat apprehensive about what could happen at that site.”

“Some people may see this as great, we won,” said Jasper. “But just because W/S is going away, that doesn’t mean nothing is going to be built there.”