Downtown Farmington.
(S RPC Photo)
Planning
On Tuesday, Apr. 16, Kyle Pimental, principal regional planner, and Marcia Moreno B á ez, GIS planner, attended a meeting of the New Durham Planning Board. The meeting allowed Marcia to present updates to a land suitability map of the town from the 1970s. The new map includes updated data on slopes, conservation land, developed land, floodplain and buffers around surface waters, and groundwater resources.

Marcia shared the map with planning board members, allowing them to provide comments and ask questions regarding the data. The map will be useful in determining what areas of town are more suitable for future development. This information can also assist the town in the justification of zoning changes and other future planning processes.

For more information on the project contact Marcia at 603-994-3500.

Pieces of Interest


Transportation
At the Policy Committee meeting on Friday, Apr. 19, members were asked to approve a list of five projects to be added to the NH Statewide 2021-2023 Ten Year Plan. The list of projects was originally developed by a subcommittee and included seven projects. The NH Department of Transportation provided an engineering cost estimate of the projects and the Technical Advisory Committee recommended a set of projects that fit within a regional allocation of federal funding.

Based on available funds, the remaining five projects were approved by the Policy Committee to be submitted for inclusion in the Statewide Ten Year Plan. These include intersection improvements at Charles St./NH 125 (Columbus Ave.) and Old Dover Rd. in Rochester, pedestrian and accessibility improvements along Chestnut St. in Dover, pedestrian improvements along W. High Street and High Street to connect schools to the downtown in Somersworth, and intersection improvements at the School St. (107) and US 4/US 202 intersection in Northwood. The fifth project is the installation of soundwalls in the vicinity of residential areas near Exit 7 on the Spaulding Turnpike. This project would be funded through a specific soundwalls program and does not use regionally allocated funds. 

For more information on the Ten Year Plan visit NHDOT's website .

Pieces of Interest

Economic Development
In continuing efforts (see transportation story) to assist the Town of Farmington with its downtown parking study, volunteers and UNH planning students assisted with data collection on Thursday, Apr. 11 and Saturday, Apr. 13 This process originated with the Farmington Revitalization Steering Committee, which partnered with Strafford Regional Planning Commission, UNH Cooperative Extension, and students from UNH Professor Mary Freidman's capstone planning class.

Volunteers walked Farmington's downtown and recorded when cars were parked in marked parking spots, and how parking was utilized from hour to hour. This information was recorded along with notes and observations. Shayna Sylvia, communications and outreach planner, compiled the data, which will be analyzed in the coming weeks.

Next steps for the project include drafting a report which will be presented to the town. The information will be used for planning processes to encourage economic development in Farmington's downtown.

For more information contact Rachel Dewey , data analyst at 603-994-3500.

Pieces of Interest

Strafford Regional Planning Commission | 603-994-3500 | srpc@strafford.org | www.strafford.org
April 19, 2019