At least one Hooksett Village resident wants to use the wave of commercial development anticipated to hit the Interstate 93 Exit 11 area to transform the sleepy Hooksett Village into a bustling hamlet.

Alden Beauchemin, a local land use consultant who owns about nine acres on Route 3A and Hackett Hill Road – a property fit snugly between the proposed new developments and the Village – recently looked to the Hooksett Planning Board for support of his plans.

He presented preliminary plans for pedestrian walkways, attractive road signs, an expanded Robie’s Country Store with a dock system and historical tours.

Beauchemin said he wants to highlight the rich history of the Village, where in 1839 Henry David Thorough visited and later recounted his stop in Hooksett in “A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers.” He’s also been talking with members of the Hooksett Historical Society about the possibility of a Village museum.

“I don’t know whether this will all happen, but I want to plant some seeds,” said Beauchemin. “As you build community, economic development follows.”

Beauchemin also envisions riverboats, once a common sight from the shores of the Merrimack, and sea planes that could take sportsmen on hunting and fishing expeditions.

All of this and more, said Beauchemin, wouldn’t be possible without without the nearby economic development, including multiple planned hotels, that could follow Cabela’s, which is currently negotiating the terms of an $18 million bond with the town to spark the Exit 11 development district.

“The way we see it, everything I’m focusing on in the Village and so forth is really contingent on Cabela’s,” Beauchemin said.

On Monday, April 30, Planning Board members voted unanimously to send a letter to Beauchemin stating they like the preliminary plans and would be willing to consider altering local zoning regulations at some point to accommodate the project.

But members also warned the scope of Beauchemin’s plans will also require some wide participation from private developers and other town departments and state agencies.

“These are all great plans, but if one party doesn’t agree, it won’t all fall into place,” said board member Robert Duhaime.

Beauchemin said pedestrian walkways – including one that would go through his property, under Route 3 and north into the Village by the Merrimack – are critical to the plans.

“A village without pedestrian traffic really isn’t a village,” he said.

The state Department of Transportation has already been working with local engineering firm TF Moran, which has been hired by Cabela’s to design upgrades both to Hackett Hill and Route 3A. If those pedestrian walkways aren’t worked into those plans now, warned planning board members, the project could stall.

“If you don’t incorporate the sidewalks now,” said Planning Board Chairman *** Marshall, “you’re going to close the door because you’re not going to get those back again.”

Marshall also warned that local and state environmental agencies could take issues with sidewalks Beauchemin envisions to run along the east side of Route 3A.

He said keys to making the whole project happen will be community support and private money.

“Of course the ultimate thing is you need bucks,” he said. “It’s a tough thing in this town to raise money for things like this.”

Marshall urged Beauchemin – who presented a list of about 20 local residents who might be interested in the project – to present his plans to the town council and suggest it form some sort of “Village committee.”