Stratham Open Space Bond Initiative
In its simplest definition, open space is land that has not been developed or converted to other uses. It includes forests, fields, river corridors, wetlands, wildlife habitat, and greenway corridors, as well as agricultural lands and town parks. These are features that make Stratham a special place to live.
Open space is a very important part of any community. It is an investment in the rural character of our community. Open space yields more in tax revenues than it costs in town services. It provides aesthetic and scenic values, wildlife habitat, recreational opportunities, and helps to ensure our water supply protect the health of streams and minimize urban sprawl. Recreational opportunities on open land include walking, hunting, fishing, biking, wildlife viewing, and photography, just to name a few. Stratham residents understand that open land will not remain open in perpetuity unless protected.
In 1999, the town voted to put tax money that the town collects when a property is taken out of Current Use into the Land Conservation Fund. Previously, this fund only received $10,000 per year and little was able to be done with the fund. At the March 2002 Town Meeting voters approved $5 million bond for the purpose the Town to acquire conservation easements or open space lands. The bond was the largest in the state and was approved by the largest margin with 88% of voters approving the article.
The bond fund was not intended be used to purchase commercially zoned land, although small areas may be included if they are adjacent to larger agricultural parcels. With the creation of the conservation bond fund, the Town of Stratham had the financial readiness to act quickly when a desirable parcel of land became available for sale or for conservation easement. Moreover, the bond find provided landowners, who were considering selling their property for development, a conservation-minded option. This provided income to property owners who have equity in the land they own, while also allowing them to retain ownership and permanently protect open space.
In 2002, the Conservation Commission appointed an Ad Hoc Bond Subcommittee to develop criteria for land selection, to compile a list of potential properties for conservation and to assist landowners with the process of appraisals and easement development. The initiative incorporated a public hearing process which allowed for public input on the easement purchase process, with final decision making being left to the Board of Selectmen. The Commission and the Ad Hoc Committee agreed that some of the key criteria for purchase of a parcel would consider the following: whether or not parcels are in the Aquifer Protection District, have important wildlife corridors and/or viewsheds, if they protect farmland, and whether or not they are adjacent to other easement properties or town owned lands.
The Town of Stratham and its abutting communities continue to experience tremendous growth in housing development. The Commission and the community believed it was important to protect some open space areas, to allow residents to continue to relate to the desirable qualities that originally attracted them to the Town. One of the essential reasons to plan for open space was to set a course of coordinated development for the Town that maintained the Town's high quality of life. Many times decisions are made on land use without the benefit of a unifying plan to coordinate the actions. The result is haphazard development that disregards the Town's and/or region's unique characteristics and sense of place.
It is the policy of the Town of Stratham, under the Master Plan, to protect Stratham's natural resources, agricultural land and other open spaces by securing the development rights to important open space and conservation lands. Prior to the open space bond initiative purchase, the Town had already had 1000 acres of conservation and restricted development land in Stratham.
In 2012, the Town had expended the $5 million bonding limit, along with an additional $2 million in grant funding to preserve a total of 543.3 acres in perpetuity – almost 6% of the land area in Stratham. Each project was closed after conservation easements were drafted, and appraisals, surveys and title searches completed. Each project, before receiving final approval, faced its own public hearing at which members of the Ad Hoc Committee and Conservation Commission outlined the merits of the property and the benefit to the taxpayer and answered specific questions from Selectmen and the public.
A conservation easement is a legally binding agreement between a landowner and a conservation organization or agency and, because it is recorded in the county Registry of Deeds a conservation easement is part of the permanent public record; future lenders and owners are therefore made aware of it and its restrictions. A conservation easement permanently restricts future development of a property. Each easement is tailored to protect important and specific values of the land.
Each property protected held development potential. Together, the 543 acres would have supported the development of many dozens of homes that would require roads and infrastructure to support the new residential construction.
Partners assisting and cooperating with the Town include the Rockingham County Conservation District and the Southeast Land Trust, a local New Hampshire non-profit. With few exceptions these two organizations hold the easements and the Town of Stratham holds executory interest. This means that these organizations are responsible for the long term monitoring and enforcement of the terms of the easements.
Town staff, Selectmen and Planning Board volunteers contributed a great deal of time and expertise. State and federal agencies also partnered with the Town by contributing matching funds totaling $2,086,072.00, which stretched our bond significantly further. Over the past 10 years, our most important partners have consistently proved to be the participating Stratham landowners, those who for different, sometimes very personal, reasons desired to conserve their property, forego their rights to develop their land and were willing to work with the Town in a process that took months (and in some cases several tries and several years) to complete. Land conservation to this extent in a local community would not be possible without willing landowners.
In gratitude to our partners and to the citizens of Stratham, all essential to the final outcomes, here is a brief description of the lands and scenic, wildlife, water, and farm and forest resources protected since the bond was passed by Stratham citizens on March 15, 2002:
- Agricultural soils, productive farmland and forestland as well as important wildlife and wetland habitat are forever protected on the Scamman Farm, along with the enhancement and enlargement of protected land along the Squamscott River and the enjoyment of the general public of scenic rural views.
- Productive prime, statewide and locally important soils, farmland, forestland and wildlife habitat are protected along Bunker Hill Avenue, where the intent is also to protect wetlands and groundwater from the impacts of development.
- The farmland and forest land of Saltbox Farm, a 2001 Farm of Distinction, are preserved; wildlife habitat is protected as is the scenic enjoyment of the general public as viewed from public roads.
- Pasture, farm and paddock are protected at Four Point O Farm, as are wetlands and groundwater.
- The Wake Robin Farm, adjacent to another 100 agricultural acres, can be used for agriculture and managed for the flowers and vegetables sold at local farmers markets.
- Tidal shore land is protected from future development and the Squamscott riverfront is protected from further impact and housing development near Boat Club Lane, thereby protecting a corridor from Portsmouth Avenue to the river.
- Four acres were added to previously protected open space on Stratham Heights Road, forming a total of 66 acres for the perpetual protection of the quality and sustainable yield of groundwater.
- On both sides of Winnicut Road, a corridor of open space and undeveloped scenic frontage is forever protected, and along with it highest ranking wildlife habitat: 1400 feet of frontage to High Street on one side, and 3700 feet of frontage from the Fire Station to Spring Creek Lane.
- By protecting pasture and agricultural land on Stratham Heights Road, a property is returned to active farming and also enhances 162 adjacent acres of previously protected land.
- Land along Squamscott Road, originally granted to Thomas Wiggin during the reign of King George for the purposes of agriculture, will remain agricultural forever.
This entire effort was started by a small group of residents who came before the Conservation Commission with a proposal: they wanted to help preserve land in town and would work to achieve that goal. Fueled by the knowledge that other NH towns had funded major land conservation initiatives, the Conservation Commission decided in 2001 to embark on a major campaign to permanently protect 750 acres, roughly 1/3 of our remaining buildable land. With the Commission's support, a core group of about a dozen residents got to work and named the campaign Stratham, Our Town and committed to asking voters at Town Meeting to approve a $5 million bond to be paid back over 15 years. Below are links to the 5 newsletters sent to residents to prepare them for the vote in March of 2002 as well as the Case Study. We are so proud that the bill passed with an 88% YES, and are offering the following materials as a basis for other communities to pursue their own conservation efforts.