GRANTHAM — Residents can weigh in Monday on the next 10 years of business and development in Grantham and the relationship between the town and the private Eastman community where two-thirds of the town’s residents live.
At the meeting, at 6 p.m. Monday at the Grantham Village School, residents will have the chance to talk with representatives of Grantham businesses including Northwind Security, which is the town’s largest commercial landowner, Jake’s Market & Deli and the Eastman Community Association. Residents should RSVP by email to amonroe@granthamnh.gov.
The conversation will cover “the relationship of the Eastman community to the larger town, the future of desired businesses, and the development of a community center in our town,” according to an announcement from the Master Plan Committee.
“I think it’s just a really good opportunity for the local property and business owners and for the Eastman representative to just hear what people are thinking,” said Jeremy Walla, a member of the Selectboard and Master Plan Committee. “(…)Discussions are where the real ideas come out.”
The meeting is the second community workshop of its kind as Grantham’s eight-member Master Plan Committee approaches the finish line on a draft of a new document that will guide town operations and development for the next 10 years. The town’s Master Plan was last updated in 2017.
The committee expects to submit the document to the Planning Board in May, Master Plan Committee Chairman Jacob Noble said.
He hopes the feedback on Monday will help finalize “a blueprint of what the town wants” for the next decade and some specific recommendations for how the town could better support businesses and business owners.
Many residents are interested in bringing more local businesses to Grantham, such as a pharmacy, grocery store and coffee shop, while keeping development in line with the town’s “rural character,” according to results of a survey residents completed last summer to help guide the master plan process.
Though not on the agenda Monday, one of the most common concerns residents shared in the survey was the state of the state-owned Route 10 that runs through town. The road is “severely deteriorated with deep frost heaves and uneven surfaces that are causing significant wear and tear on vehicles,” according to a letter from the Selectboard to the state Department of Transportation.
The road is maintained by the state. Because it was built on concrete slabs it is difficult and expensive to repair, according to a letter from DOT. The state has no “formal program” to address what is a statewide issue and does “address short sections as we are able” and regularly resurfaces the road, though this won’t fix the underlying issue.
The Master Plan Committee and Selectboard are working to fund a $20 million repair for the road, Noble said. The town has solicited letters of support and is working on securing a grant.
“We understand it’s not an easy fix, but we’ve got to start the process,” Noble said.
Monday’s conversation will cover how the Eastman Community, where two-thirds of Grantham’s 3,400 residents live, fits into Grantham.
The 3,600-acre community that stretches between Grantham, Enfield and Springfield, N.H., includes 1,440 occupied properties, Eastman CEO and General Manager Steve Schneider said Thursday.
Eastman residents pay fees for road and property maintenance, capital projects, utilities, employee salaries and other operational costs in addition to paying municipal property taxes. They have access to resources including a pool, fitness center, cross-country ski trails, driving range, beaches, hiking trails, tennis courts and pickleball courts.
In the Master Plan survey, many Grantham residents expressed an interest in building more amenities such as playing courts, parks, a swimming pool and a community center. Walla said the Selectboard is interested in discussing how other residents could access some of the resources that already exist in Eastman, though they won’t “put pressure” on the self-governed community.
“Definitely from a financial perspective it doesn’t make sense to say ‘let’s build a building with a pool in it in town’ and two-thirds of people already have access to that,” Walla said.
The 320-acre Eastman Pond is a public lake with a public boat ramp and the Eastman Summer Camp has some spots for nonresidents, Schneider said. Eastman Golf Links is also semi-public. As for granting non-Eastman residents access to other amenities, that decision would be made by the Eastman Board of Directors.
In the six years Schneider has worked at Eastman, he said residents have never suggested opening up amenities to non-residents during any regular board meetings.
Schneider, who previously served as Enfield town manager and as director of the Upper Valley Lake Sunapee Regional Planning Commission, said he is very familiar with the Master Plan process and is excited to participate Monday.
“The relationship between the town of Grantham and Eastman is intricate and complex and, as one goes so goes the other,” Schneider said.
Schneider regularly meets with Grantham’s town administrator to discuss operations in the town and the private community and Eastman staff frequently discuss shared concerns such as recreation and safety with town staff, he said. Eastman also shares emergency resources with Grantham and some of its buildings are designated emergency shelters.
“The two work well together,” Schneider said. “It’s natural for there to be some tension between the two groups, but I don’t think it’s anything that is substantive and is impacting or will affect our future working relationship.”
Over the past several years, families have moved into Eastman full time, buying up homes that previously had been seasonal. The shift has increased the year-round population and changed the community’s composition, Walla said.
“I think that has over time been a hard adjustment for people who have lived in Grantham for 50 years, because they’ve seen so much change in that time,” he said.
Eastman does a community survey every five years, Schneider said. In 2021, about 60% of people lived in Eastman full time and now the number is closer to 65%.
“It’s a marginal move, but it’s definitely a move.”
