Kennett tries again to expand precinct for development [03/12/2008]

Expansion of water and sewer to Kennett's land would open way for 400 housing units

A North Conway Water Precinct special meeting will likely be held this spring for precinct voters to decide whether to expand water and sewer service to land owned by Bayard Kennett near the high school that could eventually include 400 housing units, ranging from single homes to assisted-living retirement housing.Kennett, president of the Kennett Corp., said the proposal, which would expand the precinct by about 20 acres, and bring water and sewer service to another 75 acres already in the precinct, would generate revenue for the precinct from sewer and water fees at no expense, because developers would pay for the infrastructure expansion.Kennett appeared before the North Conway Water Precinct commissioners recently to outline a proposed warrant article that seeks to expand the boundaries of the precinct south to include the Mineral Springs site and possibly Kennett High.Currently, the southern boundary of the precinct is south of SunBridge Care & Rehabilitation behind the Pine Hill water tank.Precinct commissioners Jim Umberger, Michelle Seavey and Bob Porter unanimously advised Kennett they would prefer to not include that warrant article for the precinct's annual meeting in March 26, but wait for a special meeting in the spring to give more time for the public to understand the proposal. They felt it is important to inform the public about the issues, said Kennett. Their feeling is that they did not feel there is sufficient time to do due dilligence and educate the public about the issues so they want a special meeting, said Kennett last week.The proposal may include an assisted living retirement home that is already within the precinct, near SunBridge, as well as single-family homes and workforce housing townhouse-style and single-family dwellings. The total number of dwelling units would be a mix of approximately 400. We are talking about expanding the precinct to include about 20 acres; the part that is already in-precinct is about 75 acres that includes the [commercially] assisted-living site, said Kennett in a phone interview Feb. 26.The home subdivision would be located off Eagle's Way, the road that leads to the new Kennett High from Route 302 in Redstone.Kennett said he told commissioners Feb. 20 that his proposal could generate a substantial yearly amount of revenue for the precinct.He said the proposal would be for the precinct to supply sewer and water services.Kennett High has an agreement with the precinct already to provide water and sewer.I presented [to commissioners] what it would bring in terms of revenue based on 400 dwelling units over a 10-year period, when it reaches 400 within that 10-year period it would at today's tax rate be somewhere between $350,000 and $400,000 per year just in tax revenue, not counting sewer or water fees, said Kennett.We would want to bring that acreage into the precinct, and then the cost is essentially zero to the precinct taxpayers because the boundaries would be expanded at the expense of the landowner and the infrastrucuture expansion is at the expense of the developer, said Kennett.Precinct superintendent David Bernier said at the meeting that the precinct would not incur costs related to repairs, maintenance or operations.In an interview with the Conway Daily Sun last year prior to the 2007 annual precinct meeting, Kennett made a similar statement, noting that water is already guaranteed to the entire Mineral Springs parcel, based on a 1982 agreement between Kennett Company and the precinct. Infrastructure would be built by whoever develops the land, and any services would be paid for by whoever uses them," he said last year. Bernier said that remains to be verified by commisissioners and precinct staff.Kennett said his company is negotiating with Joe Hogan of Portland, Maine, to be the potential developer of the assisted living facility behind SunBridge. SunBridge and the site of the proposed retirement facility are already located within the precinct, as is the site of proposed workforce housing. The expansion would be to include the private homes.Eagle's Way was developed with sewer and water infrastructure so pipes would need to be run laterally off Eagle's Way to the proposed new subdivision were it to be included in the precinct.We are not the developer we are the seller of the land, said Kennett. We would not be in competition with Subridge we would be in harmony with it, added Kennett. It would be retirement independent living, which graduates to assisted living in a larger central building ... The core of this would be what is called the inn, which has the memory loss areas. The assisted side would have kitchens with some services for what you need. For those who have additional needs, they could go into more extensive services. (A similar non-related plan by Yankee Settlements to build a retirement community on acreage behind Northway Plaza three years ago failed due to insufficient capital from the developers.)He said the workforce housing proposal would be to locate multi-family and single family housing units on a parcel located between Route 302 and the proposed path of the Route 16 bypass in Redstone near the high school.For undisclosed reasons, Kennett said he had severed business ties with Jay Waterman of the potential South Portland, Maine-based Evergreen Communities company with whom he had had talks with a year ago concerning the workforce housing site. Conway selectmen last year took umbrage when that prospective developer appeared before the board, charging that the town would not be forced to accept workforce housing. Selectmen at the time said they feared that development of workforce housing would lead nonresidents with poorer incomes to move to the region and that the income guidelines were too high for local residents.At the March, 2007, annual precinct meeting, Kennett Corp.'s petitioned Article 31 sought to change the North Conway Precinct boundary to include 150 acres of Mineral Springs. Mineral Springs is owned by Kennett Company, and this area south of Wal-Mart includes the new Kennett High School, which opened in June, 2007.Part of Mineral Springs is already within North Conway Water Precinct boundaries. Other parts are within Conway Village Fire District boundaries. Between 300 and 400 unclaimed acres some commercially zoned, some residentially zoned lie between two two districts' boundaries. Kennett Company petitioned both districts to expand their boundaries to include roughly half of the unclaimed acres in each. Conway Village Fire District voters approved the expansion at their 2007 annual meeting, but, North Conway Water Precinct voters narrowly defeated the proposal, 53 to 48.Thirty acres of the Mineral Springs property are zoned for some commercial development, while another 85 are zoned for residential building. Kennett said he is not sure about whether the school board would want to include Kennett High in the precinct boundary expansion. He said the school district currently has an agreement with the precinct to provide water.Umberger said he personally opposes the idea of including the school in the precinct and said so at the precinct commissioners' Feb. 20 meeting.As one commissioner and I said this at the meeting I am amenable to looking into it [the expansion of the precinct] but I am adamantly opposed to the school being part of it, said Umberger in a phone interview Feb. 25, saying the school serves eight towns and not just Conway. Like what we did with getting water provided to Birch Hill, it will be an educational process and it will take time to get it all out there for the voters, which is why we're opting for a special meeting instead of doing this at the annual meeting, said Umberger.