By Devon Cormier
Staff Writer

HOMES HERE – More than 500 homes are planned fora development around Head’s Pond in Hooksett near the Allenstown line. Developers also plan to have a public park and wildlife preserves, as well as public access to the water for fishing and swimming. (Courtesy Graphic)

Now that a lawsuit over wetlands is settled, Manchester Sand, Gravel & Cement Co., Inc. is ready to move forward and plan a development they call completely unique to New Hampshire.

The Head’s Pond development spent years tied up in court over a wetlands battle. Now, with the court war won, Manchester Sand is moving forward and formulating plans for over 1,100 acres off Route 3 behind the Manchester Sand scale house and offices, across from Hooksett Kawasaki.

“There is nothing else like it in New Hampshire,” said Manchester Sand’s attorney, David Campbell. “We have the ability to plan different types of subdivisions within this area in a manner that is more creative.”

The plans call for more than 500 houses to be built around Head’s Pond over the next decade or so. In addition to Head’s Pond, there is another 27-acre pond and lots of marshland.

Campbell said a few acres of land will be donated to the town for the creation of part of the bypass parkway shown in the Hooksett Master Plan. The parkway will eventually lead from Exit 9 off Interstate-93 to Route 3 near the Allenstown border.

The top of the parkway at the Allenstown border will be constructed to provide access through the Head’s Pond development. The parkway then goes straight through Manchester Sand land to Route 3 near Hooksett Kawasaki.

If Manchester Sand continues with plans to build a retail center where their office space and scales now sit in addition to the Head’s Pond houses, the parkway will play a prime role in relieving traffic on an already congested Route 3.

The next step in the development is internal planning, Campbell said. Much of the proposal can already be seen in the master plan. There will be a town common totaling about four acres between Head’s Pond and a large marsh. Apublic park of 120 acres will surround the 27-acre town pond. Other marshes and wetlands will be left as they are to add natural beauty to the large water-worn rocks and extensive wildlife.

“The wildlife quarter is large and natural and will be used for conservation area,” Campbell said. “There will be recreational features that include public use of the water – fishing, swimming, windsurfing.”

The private land in the development will be built around a golf course that Campbell said will seem like a nature tour. Upscale homes will be built, most likely upwards of $350,000. Parts of the development may be age-restricted, but the bulk will be open-age housing.

“It’s a really unique development on its own but it will have great four-season characteristics,” Campbell said. “It will be like a first and second home combined with all the characteristics of a getaway, but it will not be an exclusive enclave for people who buy expensive houses, either.”

Campbell said the plan’s best features are designed for public use. He expects that internal planning will run another six months and Manchester Sand may begin seeking approvals sometime next year.

“This has the chance to be not just any development, but a really special one,” he said.