DOWNTOWN Claremont History Claremont was settled in 1762

DOWNTOWN

Claremont History • Claremont was settled in 1762 • It was a farming town until the second half of the 1800’s. • It then boomed as a mill town until the early 1980’s.

Timeline • • • 1964 Master Plan and Land Use Plan 1973 Downtown Redevelopment Plan 1986 Truck Route Plan 2009 Truck Route Plan 2011 -2013 Claremont City Center Project 2014 City Center Initiative Committee 2015 Parking Study 2016 Master Plan Public Survey 2018 Master Plan 2018 Capital Improvement Program

1964 Master Plan • Land Use Plan Determined that truck traffic downtown impeded redevelopment and identified the best use of downtown as “people oriented”

1973 Downtown Redevelopment Plan • Downtown Redevelopment became a focus of the city

1986 • The city wanted to reroute truck traffic, using South St instead of Summer St. • This was discouraged because of low truck volume at the time

• Truck traffic increased since 1986 • 40% of the truck traffic is "pass through" traffic, not making stops in Claremont • Bad signage throughout town leads to truck confusion and Pleasant St is seen as the easiest option 2009 Truck Route • There have been historical attempts to link the north and south entrances of the city without using the downtown area • Vibration from truck traffic is detrimental to historic building structures • SE quadrant( Charlestown Rd area) would see future industrial growth • As industry expands in other areas of town, Industrial Blvd, Charlestown Rd, etc. , the more trucks we will have coming into town and hence downtown

2009 Truck Route Continued • There were 4 alternatives • Alternative 2 used Mulberry and Sullivan St instead of Pleasant St. This was considered the best of the alternatives • Alternative 4 was very popular with representatives from the trucking industry. This plan used South St, Chestnut St, and a bridge connecting Washington St to Chestnut St. This plan was too costly and there were not any federal funds to help at the time. This was considered the best long-term alternative.

2014 City Center Initiative MISSION STATEMENT The Steering Committee of Claremont, New Hampshire’s City Center Project is committed to engaging community stakeholders in transformational activities which: • Preserve and maintain our historic cityscape, • Encourage economic investment and revitalization, • Improve the quality of residential and commercial property, • Improve vehicular and pedestrian travel mode choices and needed infrastructure, • Encourage use of underutilized space, • Encourage redevelopment that maximizes existing city infrastructure, for the future benefit of those who live in, work in, and visit the City of Claremont

2015 Parking Study • The parking study separated areas of town into zones. Downtown is zone F and G. The parking garage is in zone C. • There are 2 types of parking, on street and off street. Off street include parking lots. • There are private spaces and public spaces. • The downtown utilization rate for on street public parking is about 46%. Occasionally it is 100% for short periods of time. But usually less than 50%. • The utilization of off-street parking lots is very low, 20 -25%.

Parking Study • • • The area with the highest utilization is in zone G, close to Opera House Square. This area is also the only area where utilization increases in the evening The current number of parking spots downtown in zones F and G is 846. If all of the building's downtown were full and used there would need to be around 1, 600 parking spots. With “shared parking” there can be about 20% less spots and still be acceptable, around 1280 spots. With shared parking you need less spots for each business if you can make the area pedestrian friendly so as to encourage 1 customer to park and walk between multiple businesses Zone C has 343 spots and only needs 230 for full buildings. That is an excess of 87 spots that are within 1, 200 feet of Pleasant St. Zone H has 395 spots and would only need 227 for full buildings. With these spots and the additional 112 in the Revitalization Plan downtown would come to 1, 213 spots.

Parking Garage • Public Parking utilization at the parking garage is very low. Only 1 out of the 64 public spaces was used during the study. • There is only 1 public parking space on the bottom floor. The roof is almost entirely public parking spots. • There is a popular public opinion that the parking garage is always full. • Possibly due to the view from passing vehicles is of a full garage, due to the private spaces on the bottom.

Parking Study • Historic downtowns with buildings in a row always need multiple parking options • Our municipal lots are not well integrated into downtown • Lack of signage indicating public parking • Confusing signage • Lack of lighting • Lack of pedestrian connections • Problems with timed parking • Ill-defined on-street parking spaces/Faded paint • We need to connect lots • Increase shared parking • Problems with snow removal

2016 Master Plan Public Survey • 72% would like to see an increase in small business • 69% would like to see in increase in arts and culture • 66% would like to see restaurant job opportunities • 63% would like to see jobs in music/arts/culture • 59% would like to see retail jobs • 83% would like to see restaurant/retail/small office development and redevelopment in the city center • 57% said they wanted Main St area developed or redeveloped • 83% said they would like to see more arts/music/culture • 46% said we do not have safe and walkable sidewalks • 39% said they felt unsafe biking here • 70% said we should have a biking and walking initiative and improvements

According to public input to the question of "What areas of town need improvement? ": “The City Center received the most attention. The need to maintain appearances (e. g. collecting trash, maintaining sidewalks, maintaining buildings) and proper stewardship of the buildings (e. g. property maintenance, enforcement o City codes, reduce absentee landlords) were popular responses. Comments included interest in City support for private investment, small businesses, restaurants, and neighborhood revitalization…. . and pedestrian facilities” Public participants focused on: “ Enhancing the City Center as a commercial center with a strong creative economy ranging from technical enterprises like the Maker Space to cultural and arts-related enterprises and activities. Community aesthetics for City Center, gateways to the City (for visitors), and neighborhood streets. Transportation facility improvements ranged from a truck route bypass around the City, sidewalks along Charlestown Road, and enhancing existing transit service and providing shuttles between the City Center and the hospital, community college, and Washington Street. “

2017 Master Plan Update • “Claremont’s residents age 65 and older will increase from 2, 053 (15. 4%) in 2010 to 3, 511 (27. 0%) in 2040” • “The population under age 15 will decline from 2, 482 (18. 6%) in 2010 to 2, 028 (15. 6%) in 2040. “ • We should have the same total population, but increasing elderly and decreasing younger • If we do not increase our younger population the burden of funding through property taxes will continue to burden senior citizens. • (This trend is also mentioned in the Sullivan County Economic Development Strategy as a county issue. )

Youth • “research shows that college-educated young adults aged 25 to 34 are twice as likely to live within three miles of a city’s downtown core” • (25 -34 -year olds) “Their presence in a city is a direct reflection of its health and well-being, the study found, as young migrant professionals are key to fueling economic growth and urban revitalization. ” • “There have to be job opportunities, but you have to like where you live. You have to help students connect with the communities in a way that’s meaningful. Some people think job growth drives retention, but people don’t stay if they don’t like it. And for this generation, quality of life is important. ”

Capital Improvement • The Claremont Capital Improvement Program spans years 2019 -2024 • A steering committee over the course of 6 public meetings in 2018 developed a set of capital needs projects • Each project was rated on a number of different criteria • The revitalization of downtown scored the highest of any of the capital improvement projects within the program

Sullivan County Economic Development Strategy

• Only Amtrak station in Western NH • Airport • 1 of only 28 Tech Centers in NH • An increasing arts, music, and culture community/Maker. Space, Amplified Arts, Streetside Artist Space, The Opera House, venues at Arrowhead, the Paintroom, a number of body art businesses, The Farmer’s Market, etc • A number of long time locally owned restaurants Claremont Positives • Sugar River and Connecticut River access • An abundance of park and recreation area • Very close access to larger cities like Boston, NYC, Concord, etc. • A local community college • Our own hospital • Some public transportation • A mixture of farmland, water, hiking/woodland, urban downtown, quaint neighborhoods, • Central to draws such as Lake Sunapee and Okemo, • Close to VA in WRJ • Chili Cook Off and Brewfest

Volunteers • For years citizens have been trying to do whatever they can to help downtown and our city as a whole -Heart of Claremont -Healthy Vibrant Claremont -Claremont Citizen’s Group

Infrastructure Issues • Our sewer and drainage lines are interconnected and legally we have to separate them • As of right now when we have a big storm the sewer lines back up into one of the occupied buildings downtown • Some of the lines contain lead that needs to be removed. • Main St was redone in order to connect the Pleasant St lines to correct lines • Almost all of Pleasant St will have to be dug up and then redone in order to do this water and sewer work • The lines are already 70 years old and it is unknown how much longer they will actually last before failing completely • If we just keep maintaining them the lead is still there and there are still problems with backed up sewage • All of this is a liability for the city to leave "as is"

Pleasant St Revitalized The new downtown plan fixes several issues -Adds to parking spaces that would be needed if all buildings were fully utilized -Adds parking in the areas that can benefit from more parking -It adds to the ease of pedestrian access, lighting, smooth sidewalks, wider sidewalks, less traffic to cross, etc. -It integrates parking lots into the downtown area with better signage and connected lots -It decreases truck traffic -It decreases wear and tear on our business district streets -It decreases impact on our historical buildings downtown -It puts to use underutilized spaces -It integrates shared parking -It increases property values downtown

Pleasant St Revitalized -It makes downtown pedestrian friendly -It encourages redevelopment downtown -It makes downtown more desirable to potential business owners with adequate and accessible parking, pedestrian access, wider sidewalks, better infrastructure, a more attractive setting, etc. -It connects other areas of development such as the Main St and Mill District -It would connect downtown to the possible future River Walk area -Makes snow removal easier as there will be more room to pile snow as plowing happens, and then remove the snow later, and makes downtown businesses more accessible in less time

Concord project from Mc. Farland Johnson

Financials • (B)Budget is total cost of all city services, parks, roads, city clerks, firefighters, water and sewer, materials, etc. • (R)Revenue is what the city makes from things like CSBCC memberships, business fees, event permits, etc. • We set our budget, then minus our revenue, whatever is left is what we have to pay for with (PT)property taxes • B-R=PT • You then have to add in our (S)school portion of taxes as well as our share of the county budget to get our overall (TR)tax rate • B-R=PT+S=TR • Our 2020/2021 city budget is around $17, 000. We get $6, 000 from revenue. This leaves us $11, 000 to get from property taxes. • Think of our total city-wide property value as similar to a credit score. The higher your score the lower your interest rate is when you ask a bank for loan. Cities with higher total property values have lower property tax rates. • NH is a property tax state, we do not have income or sales tax • There are only a few ways to help lower our tax rate. -Raise property values in the city as a whole -Increase our revenue so that we have less of a balance to get from property taxes -Lower our city budget even more -Lower our school budget

Comparison City Population City Budget Lebanon 13, 000 62, 000 Keene 22, 000 45, 000 Berlin 10, 000 15, 000 Durham 14, 000 17, 000 Exeter 14, 000 31, 000000 Hanover 11, 000 32, 000 Hookset 13, 000 20, 000 Somersworth 12, 000 50, 000 Brattleboro VT 12, 000 18, 000 Claremont 13, 000 17, 000

Schools • • • Our per pupil cost in Claremont is around $17, 000 per year Our school budget is 39 million dollars 16 million we get from local property taxes The average homeowner is paying $5, 000 in property taxes Each homeowner with at least 1 child in school is costing the city as whole, more than they are contributing in property taxes • If you have a 3 -family apartment building and each unit has 2 children, the cost for educating those children is $112, 000 per year while there is only one person paying a property tax, the building owner • A lot of the school budget is made up of services that the state mandates/they cannot just be cut from the budget • Our school budget is more than twice what our city budget is. A man recently told me he has paid $35, 000 in property taxes, over 7 years, and he wants to see where it went. (His road is in bad shape) Actually only about half of it went to the city budget and he has 2 children in school that cost the school district over $200, 000.

Commercial Properties • Commercial properties also pay business taxes, in the case of restaurants/ hotels/inns, etc. they also pay rooms and meals taxes…. these contribute to the revenue • Commercial properties contribute to the tax base and revenues while not costing the city in education expenses • Commercial properties should be encouraged

“We don’t want more taxes!” • The water and sewer lines need to be replaced regardless of any additional plans • This plan replaces bonds that expire next year. $340, 000 per year will expire. About 45 cents on our tax rate. • The goal is to have ZERO net impact on debt service. Preliminary numbers show it only adds a very small amount, somewhere around $20, 000 to the budget, depending on public input about items such as benches and sidewalk materials. • A new downtown that fixes problems we have brought up for at least 60 years and brings us into the future for less than 3 more cents on the tax rate.

Infrastructure • Recessions are historically a time to work on infrastructure • Interest rates are low • Labor is idle • Unemployment is high • Public is traveling less • The Golden Gate Bridge and Hoover Damn are examples of this

IDENTITY • Some areas are known for technology • Some areas are known for their medical facilities • Some areas are known for their summer vacation attractions • Some areas are known for winter activities • Some areas are known for their financial districts • Cities have their own identities. Did you know we can make an identity that we want?

What do you want to be the next picture of Claremont?

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• https: //www. vnews. com/Claremont-unveils-three-plans-to-revitalize-Pleasant-Street-for-pedestirans 35218827? fbclid=Iw. AR 0 hd. KLb. JZd 4 YEf. Akpymh_2_Ep. GCct. Za. IMXXs. H 6 ITP 4 Xx. U 4 q_F_b. Dj. Ma. BXo • https: //www. eagletimes. com/news/making-pleasant-street-in-claremont-pleasant-again/article_e 7 e 722022506 -11 e 9 -9 b 7 b-8 f 152 ad 5 c 488. html • https: //businessfacilities. com/2020/07/new-england-center-of-innovation-claremont-new-hampshire/ • https: //www. governing. com/topics/urban/americas-declining-cities-try-to-attractmillennials. html? fbclid=Iw. AR 0 BWos. Ruus 01 Y 7 rw 9 asf. YDb. JPlz. Vun. Ru. Xto. MEZLUe. EFtq. V 2 l. Ro. Mue. Z 5 Iyg