Shall the Town of Hampton vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $125,000 for the purpose of contracting professional services for the completion of a comprehensive update of the Town of Hampton Master Plan. The purpose of a Master Plan is to guide the overall character, physical form, and development of a community and is required by law to be updated periodically. Hampton’s Master Plan has had only occasional updating since its inception in 1985. As Hampton is the most vulnerable Town in the Seacoast in several respects (such as flooding, potential impacts from sea level rise, drainage problems, etc.), it is essential to update our Master Plan in its entirety in order to meet more recent challenges and to better plan for the future. A professionally developed, forward-looking Master Plan is needed to preserve, protect, and enhance property values and the quality of life of Hampton residents, and to enable the Town to qualify for grants for projects that are otherwise financially beyond what the Town can afford.
The Master Plan update will be conducted with the assistance of qualified professional consultant(s), and will include a robust public participation process. The Town has already been successful in securing grant funding in the amount of $45,000 from other sources to accomplish specific parts of this project. The additional $125,000 must be raised and appropriated through this Article to provide for the concurrent completion of all Master Plan components, resulting in a Plan that is fully current, comprehensive, and user-friendly.
This shall be a non-lapsing appropriation per RSA 32:7, VI and shall not lapse until the purpose of this Article is completed or by December 31, 2023, whichever is sooner? (Majority vote required)
What it means: A Master Plan is a blueprint for the future. How do you want your Town to look? Do you want open spaces? What types and how much development should be allowed? It is a comprehensive, long range plan that will guide decisions over the next 10-20 years. This warrant article would fund a professional planning service to complete tasks associated with the update of the Town of Hampton Master Plan.
Those in favor say: A Master Plan is required by statute. Revisions to the plan are recommended every five to ten years. The current Master Plan was adopted in 1985, with some subsequent chapter amendments since that time. It has been 35 years since the last comprehensive update. Having a current Master Plan will allow the Town to be more competitive for grant funding, and will increase property values because the town will be able to evolve in the vision of the residents with funding from outside sources.
The process of establishing a revised Master Plan will encourage better relationships between the various departments. It’s for the future, and it’s by the people – what do we want our community to look like? We need something to guide development. Many decisions are made with reference to a Master Plan, which was last updated when our population was about 8,000 people – roughly half what it is today.
Those against say: No one spoke against this Article at the Deliberative Session.
Fiscal impact: If Article 10 is approved, it will create an additional one-time tax cost of $13.20 for a Hampton home valued at $400,000. Take your property value divided by 1000 times .033 to get your cost.