Bill to ease D Street closure for huge Hampton Beach Casino project fails: Here's why
CONCORD — Legislation that would have given the Hampton Board of Selectmen the power to authorize closing D Street to make way for a major redevelopment of the Hampton Beach Casino property failed in the New Hampshire House Thursday.
State Sen. Debra Altschiller, D-Stratham, and state Rep. Chris Muns, D-Hampton, had worked together to add an amendment to HB 1215, originally a bill about development approvals and appeals, that would allow the Hampton board to hold a vote, after meeting with several boards in town, to discontinue the 1/10th of a mile D Street. This would clear the way for developers to lease that property for up to 99 years. Currently, municipalities have the authority to lease town-owned property for up to five years without a town-wide vote.
Redevelopment plans include a convention center, doubling the Hampton Beach Casino's Ballroom's concert capacity, a 500-room hotel and a new parking garage. Casino owner Sal Lupoli has said the project could cost up to $600 million.
Supporters said shutting down this street would help “revitalize the Hampton Beach boardwalk area” and “lead to millions of dollars of economic growth in the region,” wrote Rep. Joe Alexander, R-Goffstown, in a summary of the Committee of Conference report on the bill.
The bill passed the Senate on a voice vote. But in the House, it failed, 261-102.
“This is not about whether this project is a good idea or not. I grew up going to the Hampton Casino Ballroom since I actually was in high school, and it would be wonderful to have a new venue because the property has become pretty rundown,” said Rep. Kelley Potenza, R-Rochester. “This is only about the process in the passing of something that cuts out 16,500-plus Hampton residents, who are the ones that actually have the skin in the game here. They are the taxpayers, and they need to make the decision if they want this.”
Hampton Beach Casino redevelopment: New concert venue, 500-room hotel, convention center
Muns said he also struggled with the bill removing Hampton from having a direct say on whether the road should be closed. He said this is why he specified in the amendment the Select Board can only make a decision to close the road after it holds public meetings with the Hampton Planning Board, the Hampton Beach Village District and the Hampton Beach Area Commission.
Rep Jim Maggiore, D-North Hampton, brought up concerns the legislation did not go through the normal bill process, but through a non-germane amendment. It never had a roll call vote in the Senate. He called it “needless doubling of exemptions."
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Without this bill, the process currently in place requires a vote of the town's residents, which normally would not occur until Hampton's annual Town Meeting election in March 2025. Developers can't bring a project that includes closing D Street to town land-use boards for approval until the decision is made.
In an opinion piece for Seacoastonline, Muns said this could “delay the planning for this project for at least a year or result in the town incurring the extra expense of a special town meeting.”
Editor's note: State Sen. Debra Altschiller, D-Stratham, is the wife of Howard Altschiller, executive editor of Seacoast Media Group.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Bill to ease D Street closure for Hampton Beach Casino project fails
