community-conscious development
What Does The Community Want? Try Asking Your Neighbors!
The neighborhood planning Process
River Park is the result of unprecedented collaboration between West Lebanon citizens and a private developer.
“There is no better qualified group of people to set policy for the physical and socioeconomic development than the municipality’s own citizens.”
Neighborhood Planning Process
The Master Plan for River Park is the result of a series of proactive and collaborative meetings with the citizens of West Lebanon, N.H.
A Public Referendum
In 2010, the citizens of Lebanon voted overwhelmingly in support of a public referendum enabling the River Park Master Plan.
Community Involvement
Community requests for public access to the Connecticut River and open spaces became central to the identity of River Park.
Ensuring Public Access
The Friends of River Park have become the owners of the waterfront parcel, ensuring access to the Connecticut River and walking trails.
process, process, process
A Transparent Process Results In The Best Plans
engaging the community in defining the future
The Neighborhood Planning Process
The River Park Master Plan is the outcome of 2-years of community-involved planning, reflecting the long-term goals of the Lebanon Master Plan and Lebanon’s Principles for Sustainability, and is consistent with public input during subsequent planning processes.
When Lyme Properties purchased the former Bailey Bros. Automotive in 2007, we set forth on a 2-year pre-planning process to determine the future land-use of the 38-acre parcel. Most Upper Valley residents– ourselves included– had no idea that there was so much land behind the auto shop!
During the neighborhood meetings Lyme presented a “zoning primer” in which we graphically helped educate the neighbors on the possible uses under the current zoning (images at right) and discussed modifications to the zoning that would enhance the neighborhood and support smart growth principles.
In keeping with the as-of-right zoning uses at the time, as well as the then-preliminary proposed update to the Master Plan for the City of Lebanon, Lyme incorporated citizen-feedback and developed a mixed-use development plan that would prioritize “mixed-use, smart growth, and public access to the Connecticut River.”
Lyme initially attempted to save and re-purpose the Bailey Brothers building, per the input of the community. That failed when the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) rejected Lyme’s plans to redevelop the non-conforming use building– only allowing another auto-parts store or repair shop. Not interested in replacing an already-abandoned use, and unwilling to continue paying taxes on a building the City was prohibiting the adaptive re-use of, Lyme elected to demolish the building to make way for future redevelopment.
A citizen-initiated public referendum was initiated in October of 2009 to re-zone the parcel for a mix of Residential (R3), Industrial (IND-L), and Central Business District (CBD) to allow the uses prescribed by the resultant River Park Master Plan. The “Vote YES On 1!” ballot initiative passed overwhelmingly, with voters in all three wards supported the zoning change, 1,975 to 949, and West Lebanon (Ward 1) voters voting 725-236 in favor.
Previously home to Bailey Brothers Automotive Jobbers, the 38-acre parcel had a history of industrial uses.
zoning primer: potential redevelopment opportunities
what’s in a name?
Working Collaboratively To Create A Sense Of Place
everyone has a voice
Using technology to facilitate democratic feedback
The Lyme Properties master planning process for the former Bailey Bros. site included extensive community engagement. In November of 2007 Lyme mailed an introductory letter to more than 200 of the closest neighbors and invited them to open a dialogue concerning the future uses of the site. Lyme was very gratified that approximately 100 neighbors responded that they would like to be involved in the planning. Lyme then held a series of four informal neighborhood meetings at the site, with between 30 and 50 neighbors attending each time. Following each meeting Lyme summarized the results and forwarded the information to the expanded mailing list and invited feedback.
To facilitate a dialogue Lyme tried something new: at each meeting everyone was given a wireless keypad and asked to respond, anonymously, to a series of questions. Lyme then instantaneously showed everyone the results of the polling. Some of the results were surprising and everyone learned something new. There was a dialogue at these sessions and Lyme was very impressed that there were thoughtful comments made to some of the questions asked. In response to these comments Lyme modified some questions “on-the-fly” and re-polled with the neighborhood feedback included in the choices. This polling process covered questions about the participants, the essential elements of the fabric of the neighborhood, and desirable forms of open space.
A compendium of all communications from the Neighborhood Planning Process are included here.