Additional Plan
Recommendations
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Land Use and Development
Mobility and Transit
Housing
Economic Development
Open Space and Natural Resources
Comprehensive Master Plan
157
Tryst Nashua
Goal:
Development
Balance
Maintain and celebrate
areas and neighborhoods
in the city that are well
established and continue to
advance community values
of equity, resilience and
climate protection through
appropriate infill development
(in existing areas) and
adaptation/preservation of
built and natural resources.
Action: Encourage
quality infill development
that is consistent
with the surrounding
neighborhood and
offers opportunities for
increased amenities.
Recommendation 1
Modify dimensional regulations
specific to neighborhood or
district character, including
minimum lot size, frontage
requirement, setbacks, open
space and parking requirements.
Recommendation 2
Develop comprehensive form-
based code so new development
complements the scale of the
existing district or neighborhood.
Recommendation 3
Where appropriate, allow a
wider range of uses, relying
on dimensional and design
standards, in order to retain
neighborhood character while
creating local destinations that
can support existing businesses,
and encourage local walking and
bicycling trips.
Action: Encourage
preservation and reuse
of historic buildings
important to maintain
neighborhood character.
Recommendation 1
Work with the Nashua Historic
District Commission to create an
updated inventory of the city’s
historic properties.
Recommendation 2
Create interactive map of
surveyed historic properties
and resources and make this
information available to the
public.
Recommendation 3
Encourage adaptive reuse that
preserves the character-defining
architectural features of historic
buildings.
Recommendation 4
Develop a comprehensive and
citywide preservation plan to
identify specific preservation
strategies the City can implement
to preserve its historic
resources, including buildings,
neighborhoods, parks, and
municipal grounds.
Action: Maintain
and protect natural
resources, carefully
balancing public access
and community use with
preservation.
Action: Ensure by-right
zoning rules enable
new high density
development in targeted
redevelopment areas to
avoid sprawl.
Comprehensive Master Plan
Land Use and Development
Action: Advocate for
state policy change
to allow the City to
reduce or eliminate
taxes on electric vehicle
infrastructure on
residential properties.
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Imagine EITEy https://imagine.nashuanh.gov
Goal: Action: Enhance
. eye -_ Nashua’s neighborhoods
Livability and Public and public realm through
Realm high-quality urban
Foster neighborhoods in which design.
current and future residents,
and business owners will Recommendation 4
want and be able to live,
shop, work, and locate their
businesses.
Plan for a scalable, predictable
and adaptable approach to
improve design quality across the
city .
Recommendation 2
Use Imagine Nashua public
visioning process and scenario
development to establish city-
wide urban design guidelines that
take into account historic context
and local character, and desired
future outcomes.
Recommendation 3
Require developers to meet
with City early on and review
established urban design
guidelines, before development
conceptualization begins.
Action: Encourage
activity in ground floor
uses of new buildings,
especially on commercial
corridors such as
Amherst Street and the
Daniel Webster Hwy,
and TOD areas such as E
Hollis St.
Recommendation 1
Incentivize private developers to
include publicly accessible spaces
for community gathering in new
development projects.
Action: Promote
continuous street walls
on commercial corridors
and Main St.
Recommendation 1
Establish dimensional standards
and design character as urban
design guidelines referenced in
previous action.
Recommendation 2
Streamline approval process
to allow more street activation
elements in public way including
signage, awnings, seatings.
Action: Leverage private
development to provide
or contribute to high
quality public spaces
and programming for
community.
Recommendation 1
For larger developments, create
guidelines and requirements
to include public pathway
connecting pedestrian and bikes.
Comprehensive Master Plan
Land Use and Development
161
Imagine EGY
Goal:
Design Process and
Transparency
Employ a design review
process based on the themes
of the Nashua Master Plan,
which incorporates community
vision and local feedback ina
predictable manner.
Action: Update zoning to
better align regulations
with the existing context
and desired character
of new development,
in order to reduce the
need for zoning relief
and enable a more
streamlined process.
Recommendation 1
Recommendation 2
Update zoning in targeted
redevelopment areas identified in
the Imagine Nashua Master Plan
with clear instructions of what is
permitted and reduce the reliance
on special permits and variances.
Encourage adoption of form-
based code where appropriate,
such as Main St, East Hollis Street
area and and Amherst Street
corridor development.
Action: Create a design
review board outlining
roles, responsibilities,
and requirements.
Recommendation 1
Ensure that members represent
a wide variety of backgrounds
relevant to the built environment
expertise and across various parts
of the city to ensure that approved
projects are of high quality design.
Action: Update Land
use code and zoning
regulations to be clear
and understandable by
residents, business, and
property owners.
Recommendation 1
Hold periodic programming
including open houses,
neighborhood meetings, online
forums, status updates to create
opportunity for the public to
engage, learn about, and stay
updated with city land use policy
and development.
Action: Clarify
development review
process steps and create
guide for developers
consistent with
neighborhood design
guidelines.
Action: Develop design
guidelines for as-of-right
affordable housing.
Action: Adopt a number
of ADU design plans that
the City Staff can pre-
approve for quicker and
easier permitting and
construction.
Le
Daniel Webster College
Comprehensive Master Plan
Land Use and Development
163
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Goal:
Land Use
Integration
Ensure that transportation
policy decisions, strategies,
and investments are
coordinated with land use
goals and support the desired
urban environment.
Action: Conduct a parking
demand study to more
efficiently handle existing
vehicular needs and
better enable multimodal
transportation.
Recommendation 1
Research best practices on how
to implement parking policies
that reduce the use of private
vehicles and support other forms
of transportation.
Recommendation 2
Explore the application of
demand-based pricing strategies
in order to discourage reliance on
cars and maintain the availability
of on and off-street parking
supply.
Action: Assess
transportation network
elements for flood risk
and other resilience
concerns, and implement
elevation/protection
improvements in
conjunction with land use
reform.
Action: Review findings
from the CHAP in
relation to heat island
and determine areas in
the City that are most
impacted and focus bus
shelter improvements in
those areas.
Action: Integrate
resilience into existing
asset management and
capital planning.
Recommendation 1
Develop metrics/guidelines
that can be used to assess
the resilience of existing
transportation infrastructure
and inform the planning of
investments in transportation
infrastructure.
Recommendation 2
As part of capital planning, create
a resilience score for future
projects to improve the resilience
of new infrastructure based on
impact of future climate hazards.
Action: Promote
neighborhood level
planning that encourages
alternative methods of
transportation.
Recommendation 1
When building new developments
focus on creating a sense of place
and alert drivers to the presence
of non-motorised users.
Recommendation 2
Implement “slow street”
measures and traffic calming
designs to encourage cars to
share the road with pedestrians
and bicyclists.
Comprehensive Master Plan
Mobility and Transit
Action: Update land use
regulations for large real
estate developments to
include mitigation aimed
at reducing the number of
vehicle trips generated.
Recommendation 1
Mitigation efforts may include
building transit shelters,
expanding the nearby sidewalks
or bicycle facilities, increasing
the bicycle parking, limiting the
number of on-site parking spaces,
charging for parking spaces, tree
planting, or more.
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