9-14-05

Walpole Planning Board Sees New North Meadow Development Plan and Proposed Zoning Changes

By Charles C. Bingaman, Contributing Writer

          Berkshire Development LLC Senior VP Timothy J. Traynor Tuesday evening showed Walpole’s Planning Board and an inquisitive audience of 45 citizens its current conceptual plans for redeveloping and expanding the North Meadow Plaza strip mall on Route 12 between Walpole and North Walpole.

          At the conclusion of the 90-minute discussion and question/answer session, Traynor said, “we’d like to be back in a couple of months or so” with complete site plan applications for the Board to review.

          Berkshire Development, hired by investors who purchased the current mall and adjacent parcels more than a year ago, plans to propose a new 65,000 square foot building, parking for 340 cars, and an “out parcel” building in the triangular space currently occupied by the ball field south of the present mall’s parking lot and to update and refurbish the current North Meadow Plaza and parking lot as well. 

          Rather than challenging Walpole’s zoning limit on retail stores exceeding 40,000 square feet, Traynor announced that the largest store in the proposed new building, probably to be a grocery, will not exceed 40, 000 square feet and that the remainder of the building will be occupied by three or four smaller retail stores. 

          In addition to the major building, the development envisions a new entrance to the area from Route 12 for customers and a new service entrance to the rear of the new building off Upper Valley Road.  Traynor also said that the firm intends to update the facade and parking area of the current strip mall.

          In answer to audience questions, Traynor said that Berkshire has no contract with any grocery company for the large new space and that he was not even certain that any grocer would be interested in space that size.  He said that there have been preliminary discussions with the Shop & Shop chain, although Stop & Shop has no stores as small as 40,000 square feet, that Shaw’s Supermarkets is still “a consideration” and that two other chains may be prospects.  Traynor also noted that Shaw’s currently has a long-term lease in the existing strip mall immediately adjacent to the proposed new development.

          Traynor also said that he has no clear plans for any of the additional retail outlets in the proposed new building, although, based on last year’s surveys of citizen interest in the Walpole area, “medium priced clothing for children, women and men” were areas they had expressed interest in.  “You all will decide what’s going to go in here”, he observed, as the market ultimately will show what will work and what won’t.

          Other points made by Traynor in answer to Planning Board and audience questions were as follows…

·        Berkshire’s redevelopment of the current strip mall, even if approval is not gained for the new construction, “could be a possibility because we definitely need to invest some money in it.”  But Traynor made it quite clear that Berkshire will pursue a new construction site plan that conforms with all Walpole zoning regulations but for one possible zoning waiver on the exact method for handling storm drainage and that that new construction is the lynchpin of the project.

·        Preliminary discussions have been held with New Hampshire DOT officials on whether a new entrance off Route 12 would be permitted and whether a traffic light would be required, either there or at the current entrance to the North Meadow Plaza or both.  One audience member said that the plans for the highway would not permit such a new entrance. Traynor’s engineers said it was an open question.

·        Walpole citizen Cliff Cooke observed that the conceptual drawings shown Tuesday evening did not include connections—either for cars or pedestrians—between the current strip mall and the new area proposed south of it.  Berkshire representatives said they hope to add such connections as planning goes forward providing abutters approve and possible zoning issues can be worked out.

·        Hugh Montgomery of Walpole asked the that the Planning Board consider the impact of losing the substantial area of green space—9.3 acres—that the proposed development involves.  Berkshire’s Traynor responded, “I hear what you’re saying.  We need to move cautiously.”  But he also pointed out that Walpole has set this area aside for commercial development—separating it from the remainder of the town—and that, in his opinion, it does not impact the carefully preserved residential and undeveloped sections of the town.

·        In answer to audience questions about the amount of added ambient light that might be generated by the new buildings and parking lot, Traynor observed that “we are obligated to keep that light on our property.”  He described the probable use of lighting fixtures with recessed lights that would shine down and not be clearly visible form off the property.

·        In answer to a question about developing the open space to the north of the current Ocean State Job Lot store on the north end of the current strip, Traynor said “any such development would be years away.”

The public can learn more about Berkshire Development LLC at www.berkshireusa.com.

In a separate but related development, John P. Hansel, co-chair of the Walpole Tomorrow Committee—now claiming 250 members—gave the Board proposed language for updating Walpole’s zoning ordinance.  Walpole Tomorrow, according to Hansel, is seeking to “inject the spirit of the Master Plan into the Ordinance as a guiding philosophy.”  He said the group hopes to work with the Board at its “working meeting” September 27 and to receive the Board’s official response to its proposals at its October 11 meeting.

Walpole Tomorrow wishes to insert in the zoning regulations the stated objective of discouraging “the development of Walpole into a regional economic center, by supporting the development of small, local business establishments that serve the Town and the greater Walpole area and whose scale is consistent with its rural and historic character.”  Further, Walpole Tomorrow wants to insert language from the Master Plan stating that the zoning ordinance’s purpose includes managing “the future commercial development of Route 12 to avoid creating an unsightly commercial strip” and to “provide for harmonious and aesthetically pleasing development.”

In addition, Walpole Tomorrow wants the Board to add to site plan impact analysis for the development of “any new development or expansion of existing commercial establishment proposed to exceed 20,000 square feet”—rules immediately focused on the proposed Berkshire project—an assessment of the number and types of jobs to be created, the projected costs to town services or infrastructure, the short and long term projected tax revenues, and the market and financial feasibility of such projects.

In other Planning developments, the Board approved a previously filed application by Alyson’s Orchard to expand its current conference space by 2400 square feet.  Owner Bob Jassey said that the expansion is primarily for added space for weddings that form a growing part of his business. The Board also received an approval letter from the fire department on an expansion plan for the Len-Tex plant in North Walpole that had been approved previously subject to the fire department approval.

The next “working meeting” of the Walpole Planning Board is September 27 at 7:30, and the next regular meeting is October 11 at 7:30 p.m., both in the Walpole Town Hall.

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