BROOKLINE – A downtown that hosts a local grocer, pharmacy, hardware store and toy shop. A sidewalk system that will encourage locals to not only go downtown, but stay downtown. And business that will be growing, yet maintaining the community’s rural character.

This is the vision laid out in Brookline’s newly-updated Master Plan, which was adopted during a Planning Board public hearing in May.

Since 2010, a committee of community members and town leaders worked with the Nashua Regional Planning Commission to update the plan. Public input was garnered through forums and surveys to help shape a document that would reflect the viewpoints of the community as a whole.

And while much of the document remains unchanged, the vision outlined for the future of Brookline’s economic development has evolved since the Master Plan was last updated in 1998.

Planning Board Co-Chairman Dana MacAllister said economic development was something residents and town leaders agreed was needed locally, to help boost the tax base and better fund town services.

Still, the town’s future development is not without its challenges. While residents and town leaders agreed that the town needs the ability to be more self-sustaining, most also want to keep the town’s rural character.

“That’s what attracted me to Brookline,” MacAllister said. “It’s a great town, so a lot of the economic development is tough.”

MacAllister’s Planning Board Co-Chairman Alan Rosenberg agreed, and said because there are challenges facing Brookline’s future development, it will take cooperation from the entire town to bring the goals of the Master Plan to fruition.

The Need for Development

According to the Master Plan, in 2009 residential land and buildings made up 95.2 percent of the town’s local assessed value. Commercial land and buildings made up only 3.5 percent, while public utilities accounted for the rest.

In the Nashua region, this make-up has left Brookline with the second highest total tax rate – behind only Mont Vernon – and the fourth highest percentage of local assessed value from residential land and buildings.

For residents, this means paying more to adequately fund town services and schools and means many locals who would like to live in the community long-term simply cannot afford to stay, the Master Plan states.

MacAllister said it is often longtime residents reaching retirement who are the most adversely affected by the town’s high tax rate.

“It’s something that, for everyone, would be good to bring down,” he said.

Still, surveys of residents conducted during the Master Plan update process show that while many would like to see more development, just as many want the town to be choosy when bringing in more businesses.

The updated plan states that 92 percent of all survey respondents said it was important to attract small retail businesses to the town. Small office-based businesses, such as a dentist, accountant, lawyer or insurance office, were also favored by 88 percent of all respondents.

MacAllister said many who worked to craft the updated document envisioned a town center that would be able to provide residents with their basic needs without having to travel to a different community.

Survey respondents also agreed that large retail companies, like Target, Wal-mart or franchised restaurants, however, would not be a good form of development for Brookline because they could harm the town’s rural atmosphere.

Much of the development the does occur in the next decade, survey respondents and Master Plan developers agreed, should be focused on the Route 13 corridor, which brings the most out-of-town traffic through the downtown.

According to traffic counts from the stat Department of Transportation, in 2009 about 5,800 cars were counted along Route 13 at the Massachusetts state line. In the same year, 8,400 vehicles were counted on Route 13 near Melendy Pond.

MacAllister said the road has long been an area planned for future development because it is already zoned for commercial and industrial uses and draws in visitors to the town.

He added that while there is some existing development along this road, there is plenty of room left for future growth in the form of both vacant land and vacant buildings. The Master Plan states that a key goal for the future is to fill vacant buildings with new businesses as often as possible, instead of building new facilities and leaving existing structures empty.

MacAllister said the town plans on creating an inventory of all available land and property that can be presented to potential developers and business owners looking to relocate to the town. Having such a list, he said, will be a big help when trying to attract businesses to town.

Challenges to Development

While town officials have hope that the vision for Brookline laid out in the Master Plan will become a reality, it will likely not be easy.

According to the document, residents who participated in surveys and forums for the update identified many challenges to future development.

The overwhelming challenge identified by residents was the town’s high tax rate.

MacAllister said while he knows the tax rate has been an issue for local residents, he is not sure if it could also act as a turn-off for businesses looking for a community in which to settle.

“That’s something we hope to answer,” he said. “We want to reach out to businesses and find out if they are specifically avoiding Brookline because of the tax rate. Or maybe Brookline is just not on their radar. We need to get our name out there.”

Residents also identified the town’s zoning ordinances as a potential threat to future development, saying that there is limited zoning for commercial growth and questioning where additional commercial development would go, according to the Master Plan.

MacAllister said this issue is one that has been discussed by many in town for some time.

According to Rosenberg, the town has only two zones: residential/
agricultural and
commercial/industrial. Except for the area along Route 13, the town primarily allows only residential zoning.

Even along Route 130, which leads to Hollis and Nashua and has traffic counts close to that of Route 13, there is currently no commercial development permitted.

This is something the town is looking at changing, however, MacAllister said.

A committee in town is currently working to determine whether creating a mixed use zoning district along Route 130 would be feasible. If this zone was created, it would allow small, home-based businesses, such as a lawyer’s office or small medical office, to be developed along the road.

Still, MacAllister said that while zoning is important to bringing more businesses into Brookline, he said the community’s lack of town water and sewer services is likely an even bigger challenge to overcome.

“It’s come up before in terms of restaurants and their ability to relocate into Brookline,” he said.

Bringing those services to the town, however, he added,is unlikely: “It was would a huge investment for the town, I don’t know how realistic that is.”

And Rosenberg said even if the town did have such services for local businesses, it may not be enough to draw in new development. The town really needs to look at how they market the community and what kind of incentives can be offered to businesses who chose to locate in Brookline, he said.

“I think the biggest challenge would be getting the word out to the business community that Brookline is on the map,” he said. “We need to try to get the word out there that there are opportunities here and we’re hoping there are people who live in town who have business experience who can give us advice on how to do that.”

Overcoming Obstacles

In addition to help from experienced community members, the updated Master Plan identifies a number of strategies to deal with the challenges facing the community and head into a future of more economic development.

One of these strategies got a jump start in May when selectmen approved a charter for the formation of an official Economic Development Committee, headed by MacAllister.

The group will work to determine how to best market the community to potential developers and how to encourage businesses to come to town.

While the town has had economic development groups and initiatives in the past, MacAllister said this is the first time the town will have a committee appointed by the Board of Selection. Because of this selectmen support, he said he is expecting the committee to work closely with the board in planning for the town’s economic future.

The committee plans on forming an ambassador group, he said, which will get to know local business owners and find out how the town can best support their work and help keep them running. For any new businesses that do come to town, MacAllister said, the committee will work to make sure they are a good fit for the community.

The Master Plan also outlines a few strategies to ensure the right kinds of businesses move to town, including the option of adopting a size cap ordinance. If adopted, such an ordinance would prohibit the construction of retail stores larger than a specified size.

However, MacAllister said while the ordinance could help keep out big box stores, it may not be best for the town or even be possible.

“It’s tough to restrict certain businesses like that,” he said. “It’s tough to know how much leeway the town has on that kind of thing.”

Still, he said the town already has fairly strict non-residential site plan regulations that set restrictions on the appearance of local businesses.

“We really try with those regulations to make it blend in nicely with the town, both parking lots and building facades,” he said. “Even if it was a big box store, they’d still have to conform to those regulations.”

MacAllister and Rosenberg said they are confident in the goals outlined in the Master Plan and that the update will guide local officials smoothly through the next several years of improvements and changes in town.

“It’s an aggressive plan and I think some of the dates set to achieve certain goals may slip a little bit, but I think the goals are achievable,” Rosenberg said. “Hopefully we’re get a lot of volunteers willing to give some time to the town.”

A copy of the Master Plan is available in the Town Hall and library or online at www.brookline.nh.us/masterplan.

Danielle Curtis can be reached at 594-6557 or dcurtis@nashuatelegraph.com. Also follow Curtis on Twitter (Telegraph_DC).