Restaurants, housing, rooftop dining and pedestrian-friendly opportunities. Asked at a community visioning session to map out the future of Boscawen, residents zeroed in on these offerings that they crave from the town’s Commercial Street.
The street sits just beside the Contoocook and Merrimack rivers and on the heavily-used Northern Rail Trail. It used to be the site of the town’s Allied Leather tannery, which closed down in 1987 and has been empty ever since.
“It’s always been an eyesore, which is unfortunate because it’s in such a beautiful area,” said Kellee Jo Easler, the town’s planning and community development director.
Now that cleanup efforts are almost complete, the site is getting ready for redevelopment.
Monday’s meeting saw about 20 residents and property owners share their vision for the area, along with ideas for housing, transportation and natural resources, writing down their thoughts at different stations.
In the realm of housing, residents said the town should encourage more ranch-style homes, consider converting historic buildings into housing and prioritize affordability. For general economic development, the need for child care and mixed-use buildings came up several times.
A major priority for attendees was focusing growth within already concentrated areas and keeping rural areas rural. Boscawen has an active conservation commission and contains various trails, as well as agricultural and wildlife areas.
“Identifying those areas that should be continued to be protected, that’s always been a real key in Boscawen,” said Michael Tardiff, executive director of the Central New Hampshire Regional Planning Commission.
In June, the commission and the town began surveying residents and property owners about their vision for the community. As of Wednesday morning, 170 people had responded to the survey, and Tardiff said feedback from the meeting echoed those results.
Respondents showed an interest in smaller-scale housing such as tiny homes, more diversity in housing and more pedestrian-friendly opportunities, Tardiff said.
The survey will be used along with Monday’s feedback to help shape Boscawen’s master plan. It will close in the next week or so.
The survey also asked for input on safety and traffic concerns, particularly on King and North Main streets, as well as the Route 3/Route 4 split. Craig Tufts, the senior GIS and transportation planner for the commission, said roundabouts elicited mixed reactions, but the majority were in favor.
Boscawen’s master plan is being carried out in chapters and will be used to lay the groundwork for Boscawen’s planning board moving forward.
For the past six months or so, the town has been working on its vision chapter. A public hearing will take place later this fall for community members to weigh in on a draft of the chapter.
To fill out the online visioning survey, visit https://cnhrpc-connect.org/boscawen-visioning-survey.
