For two full years, Hooksett residents volunteered their time to create a master plan that lays out long-term goals for the town. When the plan was officially adopted in 2004, another challenge began: turning vision into action. A new pilot project coordinated by the Jordan Institute and New Hampshire Audubon will help local officials and residents do just that.  

Often there are conflicts between master plans and what’s happening on the ground, and this project aims to resolve them. It uses Hooksett as one of three study areas in which to examine how a variety of planning tools can help towns realize their goals, particularly in regard to natural resource protection.

Jordan and Audubon chose Hooksett because of its strong master plan and exceptional economic, ecological and recreational opportunities – interstate highway access, proximity to Manchester, presence of the Merrimack River and Bear Brook State Park, ample sand and gravel deposits and more.     

The project team has worked with the Hooksett Planning Board and established a citizen advisory group to prepare for this effort.  

The main tool being used is a GIS-based program called Community Viz, which allows people to examine the spatial and statistical effects of different growth scenarios. A typical build-out would show what the town would look like if it were fully developed under current zoning.

With Community Viz, the Hooksett community can compare alternative future scenarios and identify the one that best reflects its objectives. Once that scenario has been chosen, the project team will recommend specific policies, regulations, and voluntary practices that would help the scenario become a reality.

Citizen input is an essential component of the project, as the project team needs to confirm that people’s desires for Hooksett remain similar to what the master plan calls for. They will give a presentation and survey to a variety of groups in town, and the survey will be available on the Hooksett Web site as well.

Eventually, residents will be invited to a public meeting at which they will review and revise a draft version of the desired future scenario.

This valuable assistance comes at no cost to Hooksett. It is funded by the state Fish and Game Department and the Jessie B. Cox Charitable Trust, with additional support from the UNH Cooperative Extension.  

For more information or to request that the project team give its 20-minute presentation and survey at a meeting of yours, please contact Maura Adams at the Jordan Institute, 226-1009 ext. 204 or mkadams@thejordan institute.org.  

Details on presentations, the online survey, and the public meeting will all appear in the Banner in the coming months, so continue to look here for updates.