Ward 1 Candidate Todd Says Penacook On The Cusp Of Improvement

CONCORD, NH — There's an old adage in politics that incumbents prefer to run unopposed. Running for re-election, with competition, is work, and can be daunting and a distraction for some campaigns. For a ward Concord City Council seat, which is essentially a volunteer position, it's easier sometimes to just slide along for another two years.

For Brent Todd, who is facing his first challenge since being elected to represent Ward 1 in 2013, he's continuing to do all the things he always does while representing constituents in the village as well as supporting other things around the city that he hopes will improve the lives of not only Penacook residents but everyone in Concord. He appears at functions and meetings, he is out talking to neighbors, and he has an active email list, too.

"I try to encourage people to sign up for that," he said. "That way, I'm able to provide information, on an ongoing basis to folks, about what I feel are the issues that are important – and most of them are pretty obvious, because I hear from people, and I understand what their concerns are."

More often than not, Todd said, when constituents are upset and contact him, he can resolve the issues and make the constituent happy. Sometimes, there might be some explanation or misinformation that needs to be cleared up. People really want to not be hit with surprises and know what is going on around them without having to keep track of everything for themselves, especially when it comes to development, new projects, or other issues. Todd said, sometimes, things slip through the cracks, like the Domino's-Aroma Joe's project, which is on the lower part of Ward 1. The owners of the property were allowed, by right, to build the project there, along the Fisherville Road commercial corridor, even though there are residential homes right next door, he said.

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The city's a new form-based zoning process should assist and make clearer the concerns of both residents and developers about what should be built on the outskirts of Fisherville Road, Loudon Road, and other areas, to support sensible development. Neighbors and developers, working together, can usually resolve the outcomes, he added.

Todd is also excited about the new Market Basket slated for Exit 17 and the role he played in assisting the developers, Laurie and David Rauseo, to get community buy-in after so many residents wanted a grocery store at the tannery site, in the heart of the village. The site, he said, is right off I-93 and is a gateway to the village. When the developers approached him about having another go at rezoning the parcel for a grocery store, Todd encouraged them to have "a real community-based approach" to the project.

"The old school way, that developers tend to operate, is to keep your project design, locked in a vault, until the last possible minute and then, whoop, it comes out," Todd said. "And then it hits everyone by surprise."

The Rauseos, however, did the opposite; they went into the community, "and they were not obligated to do it," and brought in a charette and let residents tell them, with paper cutouts, what stores they would like to see and where on the parcel. The Rauseos then went out and began trying to line up potential businesses for the project, he said. That led to covenants being removed and the commercial zoning being expanded where it was originally zoned for industrial.

"That is the new school approach," he said, adding it would lead to more residents being happy.

Another exciting change to the area that could be on the horizon is the development of a new Whitney Road extension to the Concord Monitor property, about 100-acres of parcels. One can easily image duplex homes constructed along the Merrimack River not unlike the buildings proposed near the Manchester Street-Exit 13-Concord Driver-in site.

Combined with the Exit 17 redevelopment, $100 million worth of more assessed property to the city tax rolls and the Merrimack Valley School District, Todd said. While it won't lower the property taxes of Penacook residents, it should stabilize rates – which are much higher than the rest of the city, due to the higher school taxes.

One controversial decision supported by Todd and all but one city councilor was the construction of 50-plus mostly low-income apartments on the tannery site (six are slated to be market rate, according to reports). Many in the community are concerned about an influx of new children, raising already high school taxes, and other issues that come with large low-income housing projects. Todd, however, challenges the perception, and said problems with affordable housing are often more about the management company and not the tenants. He said the housing units were badly needed in Penacook and the city, and the Caleb Development Group had a good reputation, with a board of directors involved in religious and social organizations.

"It's the quality of the management of the property that is extremely important," he said. "If we discover there are real serious problems, I'll be the first one on the phone to call up the folks on the board and say, 'We need better management of this property.'"

The project, Todd added, might also lead to the village becoming a bustling place again.

But Todd is not just looking at Penacook but, the city, as a whole. He supports the Merrimack River Green Trail and said it would be a project that would keep young people in the city, because they like bike paths. Todd would like to a museum space, somewhere, too, for the Abbot-Downing Concord Coaches that are stored in various places around the city like Johnny Prescott Oil's office on the Heights.

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