LEBANON — A longtime Upper Valley developer is seeking city support to build a 600-unit residential development off of Etna Road that would include public athletic fields, a child care center and office space.
The project, called Signal Park, has yet to undergo Planning Board review, but as proposed, it would be split into three phases with 216 condominiums built in the first phase.
The initial phase also would include two soccer fields, basketball, tennis and pickleball courts, a pavilion, and playground that would all be transferred to the city.
In later phases, Etna-based developer Jay Campion hopes to build about 400 more units of housing, including a mix of condominiums, townhouses, apartments and single-family homes on the vacant 230-acre lot that abuts Signal Hill conservation area.
The whole project would also include about 1.5 miles of new roads. Other recreational amenities such as a baseball field, bicycle pump track, climbing wall and ropes course would come later.
Campion hopes the development will meet unmet demand in Lebanon for larger housing units and more owner-occupied properties.
“In 2026, ownership I think is an important piece that the apartment complexes that have been erected haven’t addressed,” Campion told the City Council at a meeting last week.
Campion is seeking City Council’s approval to establish a tax incremental financing, or TIF, district around the development to generate revenue specifically for some of the public infrastructure improvements and amenities.
The council would set the exact terms of a TIF district, but Campion proposed that 60% of tax revenue generated from the complex go towards the construction of infrastructure such as roadways, utilities and athletic fields. The infrastructure and amenities would be transferred to the city after they are built.
“The city has no risk involved and that of course means that the incentive is pretty strong on the developer to get some stuff built, because we’re going to be creating infrastructure that we’re going to need to have revenue to pay for so it seems to me like a win-win,” Campion told the City Council at a meeting last week.
Council members said they would need more information, including an estimated cost impact of the project on city services and the school district, and estimated costs of maintaining roads and athletic fields before agreeing to move forward with a partnership.
“Conceptually, personally, I see a lot here I like, but I’m not here representing me,” Councilor Chris Simon said at the meeting. “I’m here representing my constituents, and I know they’re going to want to know at the end of the day, is this now going to happen and then cost me more money down the road.”
The proposal also aims to meet a “longstanding need” for recreation fields, according to meeting materials.
“We’ve been pretty vocal about the need for new athletic fields to come into our system and we’ve been in need of that for years,” Recreation, Arts and Parks Director Paul Coats said Monday.
The department is already unable to meet the demand for recreation programs because there are not enough sports fields in Lebanon, Coats said. Offerings are limited by the space they have available.
Though the proposal is coming up for approval now, Campion has been in talks about the development and different uses for the property with the City Council, Planning Board and city staff for years. One previous plan was to use the property for a liquefied natural gas distribution facility. Last May, Campion went before the Council to talk about a potential TIF district for the first time.
Campion submitted the project to the city two years ago, but withdrew the application when the city began the Route 120 corridor study which would have rezoned the property off Etna Road to incentivize more housing development.
He said he participated in the public hearings and meetings for the Route 120 plan only to have the proposed changes delayed by the City Council. The development as proposed fits into current zoning as a planned business park, the same designation as Centerra Business Park and the Altaria Apartments.
“Should it happen in the future, I think that would be grand,” Campion said of the zoning changes. “But, I think I’ve got to move forward.”
The City Council plans to meet with city Planning and Development staff to discuss the state of housing in Lebanon, what housing projects have been approved, what types of units are involved and what their statuses are and how the schools might be impacted. The discussion on March 18 will help to guide the next phase of the Route 120 project.
Councilor Laurel Stavis questioned how Campion’s proposed development is different from others that the recently postponed zoning changes would have made possible.
“We just had a very long conversation about creating a new neighborhood in the area of Route 120 and this is very close to that area,” Stavis said. “We heard very clearly from the public that they did not want to see that happen, that it didn’t comport with their vision of where Lebanon should be going … talk to me about how this is not that.”
The Route 120 changes were under discussion for two years, during which time the Signal Park plans were on hold. Campion participated in many of those conversations, he said. There was ample time for the public to provide feedback before the eleventh-hour meeting last month.
“We were looking to create a Northern Lebanon type of community and this really does do that,” Campion said. “… I’m going to be unapologetic about that, that’s what I think we need and that’s why I’m here.”
But the multi-phase design of the development also gave councilors pause. Campion is requesting city approval to make a TIF district that covers the entire property, including all three phases of development, but only plans to bring phase one before the Planning Board at this point.
WIthout the whole plan being approved, there are many unknowns for what the project will ultimately look like, Mayor Doug Whittlesey warned.
“I feel very uncomfortable being a partner on something where I don’t know what is going to happen after phase one,” Whittlesey said.
Campion does have a conceptual “master plan” for the whole project, but said he does not “want to commit to a full build-out plan… because it would be incredibly expensive and incredibly shortsighted.”
In general, councilors said they need a clearer picture of the project’s impact and what elements the city would be taking on to go forward with any partnership. Specifically, any operations and maintenance costs could not be covered by TIF revenue and would fall on city taxpayers. The development would also have an unclear impact on water, sewer and school district capacity that they would like to see laid out because so many units are involved and many other projects are in the development pipeline in Lebanon that could stress these systems.
“We need to see basically anything that you think could cost the city a nickel down the line,” Councilor Chris Simon told Campion.
Much of that information will likely be included in Campion’s final submission to the Planning Board. The council agreed that it would be prudent to wait for that information to make any decisions “to avoid duplicity of effort,” Councilor Tim McNamara said.
Campion said he would have to weigh the council’s feedback and decide how to proceed, noting that he could build out phase one of the project without TIF funds “in a snap,” though it would not include sports fields.