RE/CON Briefs
Cummings is named Realtor of Year
Ann Cummings of RE/MAX Coast-to-Coast in Portsmouth has been named the 2004 New Hampshire Realtor of the Year.
Cummings was honored by the New Hampshire Association of Realtors, which cited her exceptional service as a real estate professional. She has been a Realtor for 23 years, has served as a member of the Seacoast Board of Realtors and has held many offices within that board, including secretary, treasurer, vice president, president and director.
She also served as the president of the New Hampshire association in 2003 and chaired numerous committees, task forces and working groups at the state level, including good neighbor, communications, strategic planning, finance, honor society, standard forms, legal, grievance, forms reciprocity, executive committee and board of directors.
Cummings also served as both a director and alternate director for the Northern New England Real Estate Network, a multiple listing service within New Hampshire.
She also has participated in fund-raising efforts for the Children’s Miracle Network, Portsmouth Children’s Christmas Bears, Sunshine Kids and New Hampshire Public Television.
Hillsborough rejects Wal-Mart sign request
The Hillsborough Zoning Board has denied Wal-Mart’s request to use a larger sign than normally permitted, but it has yet to decide whether the store can operate with fewer and smaller parking spaces.
Wal-Mart requested the larger sign, which would have been nine feet high and attached to the side of the building, to improve visibility from the street. The company plans to build the store 350 feet from the road in order to make it more aesthetically pleasing to the town, said Peter Imse, an attorney representing the company.
The company also wanted to shrink the parking space dimensions and have fewer spaces in the lot in order to prevent excess impact on wetland areas, Imse said.
Wal-Mart’s proposal must win approval from three town boards before it can go forward. After the zoning board makes its decisions, Wal-Mart can go to the planning board with revised plans that reflect the zoning board’s decisions. The planning board will scrutinize plans for traffic, drainage and construction. Wal-Mart can then file for a building permit, which must be approved by the board of selectmen.
Appeal filed on motorsports track proposal
For the second time in two months, a Tamworth citizens’ group has appealed Club Motorsports Inc.’s dredge-and-fill permit.
The Derry-based developer is seeking state and federal permits to build what it describes as a motorsports country club featuring a 3.1-mile European-style road course on the north face of Mount Whittier in Tamworth.
The citizens organization, Focus:Tamworth, previously asked the N.H. Department of Environmental Services to reconsider the issuance of the permit, but following a review the agency found no reason to amend its earlier decision.
The group has since filed a petition requesting an appeal before the New Hampshire Wetlands Council.
The appeal cites the amount of the wetlands impact, the lack of an easement holder for the proposed mitigation site and the “uncertain status” of a portion of the site that contains some of the impacted wetlands.
Club Motorsports also needs a Section 401 Water Quality Certificate from DES and a Section 404 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit.
The project also needs a permit under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System. The DES cannot issue its 401 Water Quality Certificate without the NPDES permit.
Weirs group seeks TIF district
A group of residents and business owners is hoping to create a Tax Increment Financing district in The Weirs section of Laconia, in order to boost economic development.
Paul DiBona, treasurer of the Weirs Action Committee, told the Laconia Citizen that his organization will hold additional meetings to define the goals for the district as well as its geographical parameters.
In a TIF district, potential developers would commit to building a given project in exchange for a municipality committing to making a variety of infrastructure improvements.
All or a portion of the incremental property tax revenues that are attributable to new development and/or redevelopment within the TIF district can be used by the municipality to obtain a bond to pay for improvements and/or maintenance as well as to buy and improve property.
The Laconia City Council in September voiced support for the creation of a TIF district, and both Mayor Mark Fraser and City Manager Eileen Cabanel said the city was poised to assist a TIF effort in The Weirs by providing assistance in mapping out the district and identifying properties within it, the Citizen reported.
