BY JENN MCDOWELL

Candia selectmen want residents to rest assured that their small town will not become the next site of malls and megastores.

Just to be sure everyone understands the town’s plans for development by Exit 3 on Route 101, selectmen have set dates for two public hearings on a proposal for a supermarket at that location.

The meetings will take place Monday, Sept. 24, and Monday, Oct. 8 in the Candia town office conference room. Both forums will start at 7 p.m.

At the selectmen’s meeting on Aug. 27, selectmen tried to assure residents the land would not be used for other types of developments unwanted in the town, such as fast-food chains and shopping malls.

“The 2003 agreement specifically stated a 40,000-square-foot retail building,” Selectman Rick Lazott said.

At Town Meeting in 2003, a majority of Candia residents voted to adopt Article 23, which authorized the nine acres just off Old Candia Road for sale and development.  

The proposal at that meeting was to use the land for a retail center of 40,000 square feet or more, namely a supermarket. The town’s Exit 3 Commission, headed by Selectman Joe Duarte, also resulted from that vote.

Currently, the closest supermarkets to Candia are a Hannaford’s in Raymond and a Shaw’s in Hooksett.

Since the agreement in 2003, some residents  have come out against the project, voicing concerns that Candia is trying to fast-track its development.

At the Town Meeting in March 2004, selectmen were granted the authority to “sell land, buildings, or both,” provided they submit a proposition of said acquisition or sale to the Planning Board and the Conservation Commission and that they also hold two public forums for voter input.

However, the forums will not include a town vote. As Selectman Fred Kelley pointed out, the voters already made the decision to buy the land and re-sell it for development.

The two public hearings are specifically intended to get feedback from voters on the sale of a  2.5 acre parcel and another just under 1 acre.

According to public documents, the two parcels are needed for road access to the nine-acre parcel.

At Town Meeting in 2005, a majority of votes was obtained to allocate $82,500 to purchase the two smaller parcels. At the time, the portion less than 1 acre was owned by Parfit Trust, and the 2.5-acre portion was state-owned.

According to minutes from that meeting, the Parfit Trust property provided a curb cut that the larger parcel didn’t. Without the Parfit and state-owned pieces, there would be no access from the roadway to the developed property.

After the public forums, selectmen will vote on how to proceed with the development.

According to state law, selectmen must hold the vote at least one week and not more than 10 days after the second public forum, which would put the vote sometime between Oct. 15 and 22.