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B. Land Use Assessment

 

Overview

Land uses in the Hampton Beach project area range from concentrated and intense to sparse and moderate. The North Beach area and lands to the west of it are relatively calm throughout the year. Activities at Hampton Beach vary during two distinct seasons: summer and off-season. Intense uses occur during the summer when thousands of visitors travel daily to the beach, and hundreds of people fill the rental units and nightclubs. This combination of uses has made Hampton Beach very active during hot summer days and evenings. During the off-season, however, there is little activity and the Beach is very quiet.

An understanding of current land uses and activities that take place in the Hampton Beach area and in its surrounding area will help determine future uses. This section summarizes the uses within the project area and some of the adjacent properties.

 

Setting

The Town of Hampton is a coastal community located approximately ten miles south of Portsmouth, 45 miles southeast of the Concord, and 60 miles north of Boston. The land uses support primarily large seasonal populations and related retail, restaurant, and hospitality businesses. Development in the study area is primarily residential and recreational in character. The Town has a population of approximately 14,300 according to one of the Town’s latest reports - the Growth Management Annual Report 2000.

The project area is located in the Town of Hampton along its eastern shore and the Atlantic Ocean. This area is comprised of Hampton Beach, North Beach, and the properties located along the backland areas (see Figure 3). The beaches, natural features, and the resulting layers of development that occurred over the past 100 years have led to most of the constraints and issues that now influence the area.

There are two main beach areas: Hampton Beach and North Beach. Hampton Beach is situated on a barrier beach in the southeastern part of the Town, north of the Hampton River, which is part of a large complex estuary. Hampton Beach, approximately 1.2 miles long, has hundreds of small businesses including retail shops, restaurants, hotels, residences, parking lots, arcades, and high-density seasonal and rental houses. This area becomes very crowded during the summer season, especially on hot, sunny days, and during special events such as the Seafood Festival.

The North Beach area is mostly residential with a few small businesses in the northerly and southerly parts of the beach. There are several parking areas along the median of Ocean Boulevard, and one municipal parking lot at the intersection of High Street and Ocean Boulevard. Although North Beach is approximately 1.4 miles long, the southern portion of the beach is often covered with water since the high tide line is at the seawall.

Hampton Harbor, located on the south side of Hampton Beach, is connected to the Atlantic Ocean by the Hampton River, a wide, tidal river and channel. Recreational boaters and fishers heavily use the River.

The main transportation road (Route 1A), which runs along the coast through Hampton and North Beaches, connects to points south in Seabrook and points north in North Hampton. The main access road for most users in this area, Route 101, runs in an east/west direction through the town of Hampton to Hampton Beach. Interstate 95 is the main access highway to Route 101 for the southern region of the New Hampshire coast. The Land Use section provides a more detailed account of the uses and activities of all the project areas.

 

Population Assessment

A population assessment at the town, region, and state level provides an indication of change, level of development, and the associated impacts and uses in the project area. This assessment was based on several sources of information: the State of New Hampshire population projections, available through the NH Office of State Planning, Rockingham Planning Commission, and the 1990 US Census data. The economic section provides an assessment of population in relation to housing trends.

The Town of Hampton has a 1999 estimated population of 13,496. Over the past three decades it has experienced several demographic trends: steady growth, an increasing number of senior citizens, and sharp declines in household sizes. Population projections for Hampton include a 2.95 percent increase between 2000 and 2010, amounting to almost 2,200 new residents (see Figure 4). During the period between 2010 and 2020, an increase of 1.51 percent is projected.

 

Land Use Types in the Project Area

Land uses in the project area consist of mostly residential, mixed use, and open space. There are some other uses, similar to those found in a town center, including police and fire stations, churches, and a few parking lots. This section provides an assessment of the land uses in the project area. All the properties in the project area were categorized according to their use. The following table identifies the amount of land, building area, and value of each of the land uses.

 

 

Table 2. Land Uses in the Hampton Beach Project Area

Use	Land (Acres)	Land Use (%)	Building Area (sf)	Living Area (%)	Total Value1 ($)
Residential	530.3	37.8%	3,574,394	76.4%	460,725,400
Commercial	39.1	2.8%	1,053,879	22.5%	69,941,400
Industrial	4.2	0.3%	12,865	0.3%	1,627,000
Government	3.7	0.3%	13,934	0.3%	1,565,500
Open Space	822.7	58.7%	0	0.0%	16,173,500
Other2	1.5	0.1%	24,930	0.5%	1,011,000
Total	1,401.6	100%	4,680,002	100%	$551,043,800

1. Total value includes land and building values.
2. Includes roads and sidewalks

Source: Town of Hampton, GIS Database, 2000.

Each of the land use categories represents a composite of uses. For example, some of the residential uses include condominiums, single-family residences, and mobile homes, and some of the commercial uses include hotels, supermarkets, and restaurants. The following paragraphs describe the various land uses in the project area.

 

Land-use Assessment

An important characteristic of land use in Hampton Beach is the high-density development patterns. Most street blocks, which include residential and mixed uses, have over 40 percent building coverage. This has important implications for fire control, lighting, view corridors, impervious surfaces, and other conditions that affect land use planning.

Another important feature is that the project area is built out. There are no more areas to develop – unless buildings are developed vertically on existing properties. Should there be some consolidation of uses, such as parking areas, more land may become available for development. The issue of changing the building height regulations will be addressed in the Needs Assessment phase of this planning project.

 

Residential

Residential uses occupy the largest percent of the built area. Total residential land value is over six times the value of commercial property. Residential uses are found throughout the built-up area, with beaches on the east side and wetlands on the west side of the project area. Residential uses include single family, condominiums, manufactured homes, camps, and apartment buildings.

 

Commercial

Commercial uses comprise about one-third of the total building floor space but only about seven percent of developed land area. These uses are generally found as mixed uses, mainly residential, in several locations in the project area. They include the middle of Hampton Beach between Ashworth Avenue and Ocean Boulevard, the southern portion of Hampton Beach, and two small areas in the northern and southern parts of North Beach.

 

Industrial

Several properties are categorized as industrial. However, these include more institutional type uses, specifically a water tank and electric substation on Church Street.

 

Government

Government properties include town police and fire stations on Ashworth Avenue, several small vacant town parcels, the state park, beaches, and related facilities, and the Hampton Harbor State Marina. The Division of Parks and Recreation of the NH Department of Economic Development (DRED) owns and maintains all of the beach areas, the Hampton Beach State Park, North Beach, and the Hampton Harbor State Marina. The NH Department of Transportation (NHDOT) owns and maintains Route 1A (Ocean Boulevard).

 

Open Space

Open space c. Open space is a designated land use that comprises over 58 % of the total land. It includes all the beach and wetlands to the east of the main coastal road and to the west of the developed areas along North and Hampton Beaches. As a land use, open space is described in more detail in the following section. A detailed description of wetlands is in the Environment and Open Space section.

 

Parks and Open Spaces

Parks and open space in Hampton Beach are dominated by one primary area - the beaches, and to a lesser extent, the access points along Hampton Harbor to other waterside uses. Aside from these, there are several other designated open spaces in and near the project area, mainly the open tidal wetlands and the tot lot located next to the Seashell Stage.

Open space, according to the Hampton Master Plan, is defined as land that is worthy of protection from development. Under this definition in the context of uses in the project area, there is significant acreage that is protected by either conservation easements or existing state and town regulations (see Figure 5).

A list of designated conservation parcels that are owned by either town or state agencies, or private environmental groups is shown in Table 3. In addition to these areas, approximately 700 acres of tidal wetlands exists in the project area, and these cannot be developed according to state and local laws.

There are 317 acres of designated conservation parcels in the project area. Over 76 acres are protected salt marsh, and are owned by the Town and the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests (SPNHF). There are also salt marsh areas owned by the Audubon Society (ASNH), but their exact locations are not known, and therefore not included in these totals.

Table 3. Designated Conservation Parcels in the Hampton Beach Project Area

Name	Protection Agency	Acres
Salt marsh	ASNH Hampton Salt marsh - SPNHF	0.2
Salt marsh	Battcock	5.0
Salt marsh	Battcock	5.5
Salt marsh	Battcock	1.4
Salt marsh	F&G Hampton Salt marsh - Brown	4.8
Salt marsh	F&G Hampton Salt marsh - Brown	2.5
Salt marsh	F&G Hampton Salt marsh - Garland	0.5
Salt marsh	F&G Hampton Salt marsh - Land	0.2
Salt marsh	F&G Hampton Salt marsh - Palmer	1.3
Salt marsh	F&G Hampton Salt marsh - Perkins	1.4
North Beach	Hampton Beach State Park	103.4
Hampton Beach	Hampton Beach State Park	65.0
Hampton Beach State Park	Hampton Beach State Park	54.4
Upland	Marsh Island Corp.	0.6
Wetlands	Marsh Island Corp.	11.0
Salt marsh	SPNHF Salt marsh - Lamprey	7.9
Salt marsh	SPNHF Salt marsh - Langley + Pierson	2.2
Salt marsh	SPNHF Salt marsh - Langley + Pierson	0.1
Salt marsh	SPNHF Salt marsh - Langley + Pierson	4.2
Salt marsh	SPNHF Salt marsh - Leavitt	1.7
Salt marsh	SPNHF Salt marsh - Penniman	1.2
Salt marsh	SPNHF Salt marsh - Penniman	0.5
Salt marsh	SPNHF Salt marsh - Penniman	1.3
Salt marsh	SPNHF Salt marsh - Penniman	9.7
Salt marsh	SPNHF Salt marsh - Penniman	7.8
Salt marsh	SPNHF Salt marsh - Penniman	1.3
Salt marsh	SPNHF Salt marsh - Rawding	0.8
Salt marsh	SPNHF Salt marsh - Rawding	1.0
Salt marsh	Town of Hampton	5.4
Salt marsh	Town of Hampton Marsh	0.8
Salt marsh	Town of Hampton Marsh - Garland	1.4
Salt marsh	Town of Hampton Marsh - Hickman	6.4
Former Barge Facility Land	Unknown	6.5
	Total	317.5

Source: Rockingham Planning Commission, Town of Hampton Master Plan, 1995.
ASNH- Audubon Society of New Hampshire, SPNHF – Society for the Preservation of New Hampshire Forests

 

Figure 5. Designated Conservation Areas in the Hampton Beach Project Area

 

Zoning and Building Codes

This section of the Plan provides an overview of the zoning and building codes as they relate to the project area. Recommendations for changes to the ordinances follow in Section IV.B Land Use.

 

What is Zoning?

Modern zoning districts began in the early 1900’s in response to the location of potentially incompatible and noxious land uses next to commercial and residential areas. The zoning ordinance has evolved over the years as a means to limit certain types of land uses in a particular area of the municipality, resulting in a separation of uses.

Overlay zoning, another common planning term, has additional restrictions in a defined area that extend the underlying zoning requirements. It is generally used when there is special public interest that does not coincide with traditional zoning in a specific geographic area. For example, a watershed overlay district may require increased distances or setbacks from a pond if a new house is constructed in or near its buffer zone.

Ideally, the Master Plan sets the agenda for town actions, and the Zoning Ordinance is the regulation that implements the Plan. Typically, a zoning ordinance regulates land by the following measures:

• Segregating land uses
• Creating development standards for the size and shape of lots and buildings
• Addressing lots, buildings, and uses that pre-dated the adoption of the zoning ordinance (non-conformities)
• Establishing criteria for the evaluation of permit applications for new buildings
• Establishing procedures for permitting uses not specifically allowed
• Defining terms that have specific meanings under the ordinance
• Creating a map that displays the location of each zoning district.

 

Overview of Zoning in Hampton Beach

The zoning ordinance establishes five zoning districts and two overlay districts in the Hampton Beach project area (see Figure 6). They are as follows:

• RA – Residence A: This is primarily a residential district that has a minimal lot area of 15,000 sf.
• RB – Residence B: This residential district has a minimum lot area of 10,000 sf.
• RCS – Residence C – Seasonal: The lot size for this residential district is 6,000 sf.
• BS – Business Seasonal
• G – General: This area applies only to the Hampton Beach State Park

Figure 6. Zoning in the Hampton Beach Area

• Wetlands Conservation District: This district is an overlay intended to protect, preserve, and prevent the unregulated filling and alteration of wetlands and their buffers.
• Aquifer Protection District: This district aims to protect, preserve, and maintain existing and potential groundwater supplies and related groundwater recharge areas of known aquifers.

 

The Hampton Zoning Ordinance was first adopted in 1949. Numerous sections have been added or revised on a section-by-section basis over the intervening years. Overall observations of the current ordinance are listed below.

Observations of the Zoning and Building Code Ordinance and History

• The ordinance provides clearly defined uses, districts, definitions, and a zoning map.
• An exceptionally high percentage of impervious surface area per lot is allowed for the RA and RB districts.
• Multi-family dwellings pre-dating the current ordinance are non-conforming uses, or "boxed out," in the BS district.
• The Ordinance has been amended more than 45 times since it was adopted in 1949.
• The variance history shows a high number of variances granted in the Hampton Beach area (see the following section on Variance History).
• The ordinance lacks the graphics generally found in more modern documents to help support the intentions of the ordinance as well as provide a user-friendly document.

Observations in the Hampton Beach Area

• Year-round residential conversions have occurred in areas of homes that were originally designed for seasonal use. These conversions may increase water, sewer, and other public needs during the off-season months.
• There is a lack of exterior design control for off-season uses in the business districts.
• Many buildings appear to violate zoning regulations.

Additional specific observations are provided on the following Articles within the ordinance that are relevant to the project area.

 

Article V - Signs

The ordinance presents extremely detailed sign controls and regulations. It provides a definition for all types of signs, and establishes size and design restrictions, permitted uses, permits, fees, violations, and enforcement regulations. The ordinance does not, however, define the minimum required amount of information for businesses to provide; it only specifies the maximum amount of information, such as directional information.

Deficiencies in the sign regulations are reflected in actual conditions with the built environment. Observations on existing signage in the project area, mainly along Ocean Boulevard and Ashworth Avenue, are as follows:

• There is a lack of signage that directs drivers and pedestrians to specific attractions or cultural areas, as well as interpretive signage about some of the area’s environmental features.
• Signage dominates and obscures many views along the roads.
• Excessive commercial signage detracts from the area’s visual attractiveness.
• There is an extensive amount of building signs that mask architectural features.

 

Article VI - Parking

The parking ordinance provides guidelines for various types of parking lots, requirements for use and design, and defines penalties for violations. Although these requirements are specific, they do not appear to be enforced. Specifically noted are the following observations:

• Some parking lots do not appear to have designated parking spaces for disabled patrons.
• The Town does not have records of all public and private parking lots, sizes, and locations.
• Although the State has a record of total parking spaces, there is no tabulation of spaces in individual lots and along sections of the street.
• Parking is not required in specific commercial areas that could have increased utilization by allowing shared parking.

It is critical to know the number and the use of parking spaces in the Hampton Beach area to establish the demand and need for parking and its management. This is especially important if the Town, and/or the State wish to establish a unified and coordinated parking plan for Hampton Beach. The consultant team has made record of these factors; they are described in the Transportation section.

 

Article VII - Exterior Design

This article identifies the need for exterior design control. However, these regulations are suited for residential subdivisions, and do not apply to an established, built out area such as Hampton Beach.

 

Article VIII – Multi-Family Dwellings

This article sets limits on setbacks, heights, and buffers for multifamily dwellings, which are defined as having three or more units. However, these dimensional standards "box out," or limit new units, from being built in the Hampton Beach area for the following reasons:

• The average lot dimensions in the Hampton Beach area are 50 feet wide and 100 feet deep. However, the minimum frontage or width at the road under the regulations is 100 feet.
• No units are allowed within 40 feet of another lot line or building, which again conflicts with the existing lot dimensions.
• Driveways should be at least 25 feet from the front of any building.

 

Article IX - Manufactured Home Parks

This article establishes regulations for the site conditions and approval of a proposed manufactured home park. It defines lease arrangements, circulation, minimum number of homes, and open space buffer conditions.

 

Article X - Building Permits and Inspection

This article sets forth building permit requirements, and establishes limitations for the number of permits as part of the Growth Management Ordinance. Permit requirements include submittal of detailed and accurate floor and plot plans, and fees. It also sets forth inspection procedures and penalties for non-conformance with the requirements.

The intent of the Growth Management Ordinance is to guide and ensure the orderly development of land within the Town through compliance with the Master Plan, and with any revisions to the Subdivision Regulations, Site Plan Regulations, Zoning Ordinance, Capital Improvement Program, or the Master Plan. It also aims to encourage public debate and ensure adequate public services are available. Building permits are limited to 72 units in any 12-month period.

An important relevant requirement of this article states that a dwelling unit may be demolished or reconstructed if the use remains the same, and if the new construction conforms to the dimensional requirements of the Zoning Ordinance. This creates severe limitations on reconstruction of units in the high-density areas of Hampton Beach due to the common non-conformance with setback requirements that are seen in these areas. This requirement also acts as a disincentive to development.

 

Article XI - Construction Provisions

This article requires that any new or altered building conform to specific national codes, be connected to public sewers where available, and meet floodplain development regulations.

Floodplain regulations are particularly important to development in the Hampton Beach project area due to the significant number of valuable properties. Regulations require all necessary government permits, flood proofing and elevation information, flood carrying capacities in riverine areas, and minimized flood impacts to new sewer connections. Each of the specific flood zones has requirements that are more stringent than the building requirements outside the flood zones.

This ordinance, however, does not refer to the AE and the AE500 zones that are now used by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Regardless, conformance with flood zone regulations requires significant building costs and modifications to flood proof, and this has an impact on the ability to alter the existing building stock in the flood zone within the project area.

 

Article XII - Certificates of Occupancy

This article requires that all new residential and commercial units and all existing rental units will require a certificate of occupancy to be issued by the Building Department to the owner of record. All rental property will be designated as either "Year Round" or "Seasonal". Units designated seasonal can only be leased between May 15 and October 15, and are not subject to the New Hampshire Energy Code.

This article states that the certificate expires ten years from the date of issue. Information received during interviews for this study suggested that there have been recent conversions from seasonal to year-round uses at many of the beach houses. However, records of the property conversions are not readily available for several reasons:

• The Building Department is not informed of all the conversions
• The certificate goes to the owner and not the property, making it difficult to track the properties

 

Variance History

The Town of Hampton Building Inspector’s office has a detailed record of zoning variances that were denied, granted, postponed, or withdrawn since 1966. It includes variances for all properties along streets that are either in or pass through the project area. Almost 1,500 records were categorized by the type and year of the variance decision.

Overall, there appears to be a significant number of variances granted in the project area relative to the amount of denied variances (see Figure 7). More than 71 percent of the variances over the past 35 years were granted, and approximately 21 percent of the variances were denied. Most of the variance activity occurred between 1984 and 1998 with the highest number in 1986. In 1989, for example, 81 variances were granted and 11 were denied. There were fewer than 10 postponed or withdrawn variances in any single year over the past 35 years.

 

A significant amount of variances were granted in the Hampton Beach area during the past 30 years. The Zoning Ordinance, which provides the basis for approval and denial of a variance, has similarly been changed many times. This indicates that there has been a mismatch between the properties and uses at the Beach and the regulations that control them. It appears that the ordinance does not adequately serve property owners in the Hampton Beach area, and consequently it may need to be substantially revised.

 

Figure 7. Variance History for the Hampton Beach Area by Variance Decision, 1966 -2000

Source: Town of Hampton, Variance Records. May 16, 2000.

 

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