On August 5th, Sarah Marchant, director of community development for the City of Nashua, addressed the Rotary club of Nashua regarding, The Master Plan for Nashua’s Riverfront. Sarah has been in this role for the past five years. Sarah serves as president of the Northern New England American Planning Association Chapter. She’s a graduate of UNH and UCONN.
Sarah noted that one of the Mayor’s priorities is using our riverfront as an asset. The Master Plan for Nashua’s Riverfront was rolled out over four months ago, maximizing the economic and environmental value of that area. The city worked with a landscape architect (Halvorson Design.) There was a lot of opportunity for community input and feedback. The community wants to have access to the river and be able to walk to get there.
Components of the Plan:
CONNECTIVITY: Create a continuous riverwalk that connects Downtown Nashua, surrounding neighborhoods, Broad Street Parkway and Mine Falls Park with a priority on improved connections to Main Street.
ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP: Manage and maintain the vegetation along the riverfront, create green infrastructure for stormwater management and manage riparian and aquatic invasive species with a priority along the riverfront at the Millyard Technology Park.
ACCESS TO THE RIVER: Create visual and physical opportunities to access the river throughout the downtown riverfront area with a priority on a new dock structure and fountains West of the Main Street bridge.
RECREATION & GREEN SPACE: Preserve existing and add new green space within the river corridor. Create new opportunities for recreation and public gathering in, on and around the river with a priority on improvements to Parc de Notre Renaissance Francaise.
FLOOD RESILIENCY: Promote flood resiliency in future riverfront development and retrofi t or relocate critical infrastructure to improve flood resiliency when possible, with a priority of the electrical substation on Front Street.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: Capture value created by new development along the riverfront to make capital improvements with a priority on the execution of improvements as defined in the focus areas of the riverfront plan.
Sarah spoke about the cantilevered bridges that are part of the plan, as well as the possibility of lawn space by the water with an amphitheater, a dock system, a large walking loop connecting parks and the downtown. She noted that the community wants water foundations and next week two fountains should be operational.
The city has established a TIF district, a tax increment financing system that allows governments to use the increase in a property’s value to pay for the improvements that create the increase. This plan is a 10-year plan, with a lot of permitting and design work to be done.
There was a question regarding water quality on the river. Sarah said the water is incredibly clean and there has been a lot of progress with the quality in the river. The bond for these projects will not hit the general fund.