Comedy, Candor, and Radical Transparency

They say the definition of insanity is repeating the same mistakes over and over again and expecting different results.

15 years into the River Park development saga there are plenty of days where I feel like I’m the insane person trying to push a boulder up an unrelenting hill. After having to suspend construction in 2016, 2018, and 2020 we are once-again trying to advance River Park West Leb. Unfortunately, we’ve run into more of the same delays and disconnect.

I’m not walking the same frustrating, costly, and up-hill path again. The costs (financial, personal, & opportunity) are simply too high. Instead, I’m taking a new approach of incorporating comedy, candor, and the spirit of radical transparency in everything we do.

During the latest 107 day delay I launched the The UV Observer, engaged in other projects, and reached the conclusion that I’m done fighting against the City to advance our efforts in West Leb. As my Observer editorial states: “Smart growth for the future of the Upper Valley requires not repeating the dumb mistakes of the past.” Below and online, I’ve outlined 10 things we’ve asked of the City to help facilitate River Park.

We’ve tried to be responsive to the housing crisis; propose a creative, financially-offsetting solution for providing land at River Park for the West Lebanon fire station; advance the West Lebanon Greenway and Bridge Street Park/Westboro Rail Yard plans; author the West Leb Action Plan and East Main Street proposal; and advance pop-up events and art at River Park. All towards being a catalyst for long-demanded positive change in West Leb.

If you haven’t visited River Park online in a while, I invite you to check out the updated website that showcases the Big Ideas of the project we’ve been advancing while weathering the storms of Covid and City delays: trails, transit, greenway, art, music, and more. If the City will allow it to be connected temporarily to the water and sewer lines we installed last year, we’re working to turn the Dining car pop-up into a trail-head coffeeshop this summer with a local partner ahead of the Hootenanny with LOH on June 10th.

I’ve also illustrated the catalog of challenges we’ve faced when trying to advance projects in West Leb, and how costly that has been– both in terms of real $ wasted and enormous opportunity costs. I am raising these issues publicly because they don’t just affect River Park, they are contributory to the broader housing crisis and anti-development attitudes that have hindered efforts by Lyme Properties (and many others!) to build a better future in the Upper Valley.

It’s not about airing grievances or re-litigating the past, it’s in the belief that providing everyone with the same information allows a more honest and productive conversation. Also, it’s in keeping with priorities “#5 Encourage Investment” and “#6 Align Process With Progress” from the Action Plan For West Leb assembled by the 2021 West Lebanon Revitalization Advisory Committee and adopted by the Lebanon City Council.

If River Park is to proceed, it requires addressing ongoing challenges that restrict efforts to revitalize and reinvest in West Leb. The City of Lebanon can level the playing field and support River Park in the same way they have facilitated projects in downtown Lebanon and at the Airport industrial park to attract other developers. River Park can advance economic development efforts, public transportation priorities, and riverside recreational opportunities. But not without collaboration from the City. Here’s how:

I’ve proposed a More Productive Path Forwards that addresses past challenges, seeks a more economical and efficient approach to economic development in West Leb, and illustrates how facilitating mixed-use and smart growth could create a new tax-base to help fund long-standing and over-due improvements to downtown West Leb, the Westboro waterfront, and the West Leb Greenway. The 10 items are outlined below, with more detail at the link above. All of this was outlined to the City in a comprehensive memo to the City in March, 2022 entitled “A Framework For Public-Private Partnership.”

Like we did during the Neighborhood Planning Process and permitting process for River Park over a decade ago, we’re making our ideas public, openly soliciting community input, and addressing (or circumnavigating where necessary) roadblocks preventing the progress that citizens have supported.

From our experience it’s clear that City Hall has their way they want to do things, and I often get myself in trouble if I don’t abide. So I’m proposing ideas and solutions, and the ball is in their court now. Your Call, City Hall.

Contact me any time,
Chet Clem
chet@lymeproperties.com
603-676-7106

10 Things To Help Advance River Park

“City Hall has asked Lyme to provide a list of 9 items to justify that we’ve commenced construction and been “working in good faith” or forfeit our 1 River Park building permit. In response, Lyme Properties is asking the City for 10 things to help River Park succeed before we move forwards.”

1. River Park is fully-aligned with the U.S. DOT’s top priorities: “focus on safety, jobs, equity, climate, innovation, and organizational excellence” but can’t qualify for unprecedented funding opportunities unless the City qualifies our fully designed and approved infrastructure.

2. Since 2010, we have committed to re-locating the 4-line Advance Transit hub at River Park. But, River Park is missing transportation funding opportunities without City support.

3. Estimated construction costs of our first building— the LEED Gold 1 River Park— have escalated 74% since Elkus-Manfredi designed the building for the initial groundbreaking in 2015. To off-set that cost escalation, we’ve identified cost-savings opportunities the City can help facilitate through assistance and coordination.

4. In the hypothetical situation in which River Park proceeded in 2016 as planned, and the first three buildings were constructed according to the initial schedule, River Park would have contributed over $4-million in taxes to the City to-date. Costly infrastructure and delays constructing it prevent tax producing development from being achieved. The past decade has cost us a lot of money and missed opportunities, but it’s also cost the City a lot in lost tax-revenue. Absent new smart growth, residents keep seeing tax increases to cover growing budgets and heavy municipal debt. As counter-intuitive as it may sound, we’re asking the City to help River Park pay the City of Lebanon a lot of taxes by assisting in the execution of infrastructure, and we’ve offered to back-stop it to limit risk to the taxpayers.

5. Reverse the 2012 decision that River Park Drive “serves no public benefit,” which prevents the road network serving the project, the Advance Transit hub, and the trail network from qualifying for funding.

6. Adopt the 2030 Future Land Use Map included in the City’s Master Plan, to create a Mixed-Use District to enable smarter growth and achieve shared future goals.

7. We’ve already invested millions in municipal infrastructure and transferred it to the City. If the City wants to see more investment in West Leb, then vest our approvals instead of keeping our investments at-risk.

8. Holding River Park to tight deadlines doesn’t reflect the reality of conducting business these days, turn off the shot clock so we can focus on building great places, not hitting unnecessary deadlines.

9. River Park’s 2011 approvals have restrictive conditions that conflict with the present realities of the real estate industry, eliminate costly and restrictive conditions that make financing commercial and housing development unnecessarily complicated and expensive.

10. Utilize Current Use penalty fees as a source of substantial funding for onsite public recreation improvements to advance the River Park waterfront park and trails as part of the West Lebanon Greenway.

Think I’m crazy? Think this is asking for too much? Well, all 10 of these concepts are already utilized elsewhere in Lebanon, we’re just asking the City for equal opportunity, and believe we can demonstrate unprecedented community benefits if the project receives municipal support.