Windham and Pelham are making changes to their town centers, but going about it in different ways.

Among the communities looking at village center plans, Windham may face some of the steepest challenges. The town initially looked at incorporating its cluster of historic town buildings at the top of Church Street, just off Route 111, into a village district that merged with the existing stores that stretch along the busy roadway.

The original idea involved building a Route 111 bypass to the south and using the old road as the main street of a walkable village with a mix of residential, commercial, historical and public spaces.

“It was a great idea, but it didn’t take into account realities like cost and wetlands,” said Windham Community Development Director Laura Scott, who added the bypass is no longer considered an option. Instead, Windham now hopes to develop its village district north of the town’s historic center. But all of that land is privately owned, and the project hinges on the owners throwing their support and acreage behind the plan.

The recently formed Village District Subcommittee, which includes some of those property owners, has been looking at revising zoning ordinances to encourage private development of the project.

“We are leaving it up to the citizens to decide how to take the vision and turn it into a reality,” said Scott.

Committee members are getting help from planning board members Kristi St. Laurent and Sy Wrenn, and from Rockingham Planning Commission Senior Planner Glen Greenwood. Still, it’s slow going.

Although a village center with shops, open spaces, playgrounds and walkways may be a huge asset, those uses might not offer the best return for landowners.

So the committee agreed to recommend scrapping zoning restrictions on retail stores larger than 10,000 square feet and on restaurants that serve take-out food. And while the Village Center District may initially have been conceived as a place for Windham residents, committee members agreed the project’s best shot at success is as a regional destination.

Greenwood said there have been new issues and questions at every juncture, but ultimately a village center is an important element for the town.

“Windham really developed as a suburban community to Boston,” he said. “There was a boom in growth in 1975 and continued residential development since then.”

According to Greenwood, a town center would support and help unify Windham’s streets and neighborhoods.

“A town center plays a big role in town identity,” he said. “It allows folks to centralize their experiences in the town beyond their homes.”

A lot of town center plans emphasize the need for a large open space where people can gather to celebrate, commemorate, protest or anything else they choose to do as a community.

Windham’s Village Center District is being planned as a commercial zone, and doesn’t include a town common or green.
“We have a little green in the historic center,” said Scott. “And we have Griffin Park; that’s really our town green for multi-uses and community events.”

A town center provides a sense of community control and accomplishment.

“A village center project affects the way we see government,” said Scott. “We look at a place in the community and we think, ‘We’re the ones who run the village center.’”

Pelham’s roundabout will bring changes

Pelham’s town center has a wealth of historic buildings that most people probably don’t notice as they race through on their way to work in the morning, or back home in the evening.

Drivers move so fast through Pelham they have bumped up traffic accident statistics enough to trigger a state Department of Transportation road improvement project that involves building two roundabouts in the center, with one right next to Pelham’s small town common.

“It’s going to be great,” said Pelham Selectman Hal Lynde. “It will ease the flow of traffic and it’s a lot better than stopping at a traffic light.”

And Pelham’s road work is coinciding with another major town center project. The fire department is moving out of the building across the street from the town common into a new station on the nearby town green. And as soon as they go, the town plans to raze the old firehouse.

“The common will have more green space, and it will open up the view,” said Lynde. “People will be so proud of the center when it’s done.”