TOWN OF ALTON, NEW HAMPSHIRE SCENIC RESOURCE INVENTORY NH Route 11 Scenic View, Alton, NH DECEMBER 2008 TOWN OF ALTON, NEW HAMPSHIRE SCENIC RESOURCE INVENTORY DECEMBER 2008 This report was developed by: Thomas Kokx Associates 165 Belknap Mountain Road Gilford, NH 03249 (603) 528-7841 and Lakes Region Planning Commission 103 Main Street, Suite #3 Meredith, NH 03253 Internet: www.lakesrpc.org Phone: (603) 279-8171 Fax: (603) 279-0200 Photographs courtesy of: Thomas Kokx Peter Bolster Alan Sherwood Bonnie Dunbar Dave Roberts TABLE OF CONTENTS SUMMARY STATEMENT...............................................................................................................1 I. INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................3 WHY DEVELOP A SCENIC RESOURCE INVENTORY? ...............................................................3 PURPOSE .................................................................................................................................3 II. COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION...............................................................................................5 III. PROCESS.............................................................................................................................9 SCENIC RESOURCE COMMITTEE.............................................................................................9 ADVISORY CONSULTANTS......................................................................................................9 EXISTING MAP AND DATA RESOURCES..................................................................................9 PUBLIC OUTREACH ..............................................................................................................10 SCENIC RESOURCE INVENTORY PRODUCTS.........................................................................10 IV. VIEWSHED ANALYSIS .......................................................................................................11 DELINEATING THE SCENIC RESOURCE INVENTORY HIGH VISIBILITY AREAS......................11 CO-OCCURRENCE OF THE SCENIC RESOURCE INVENTORY .................................................11 VIEWSHED ANALYSIS ............................................................................................................12 DATA LIMITATIONS..............................................................................................................12 V. SCENIC RESOURCE INVENTORY APPLICATIONS ..............................................................15 VI. MAPS AND PHOTO DOCUMENTATION............................................................................17 MAP 1. BASE VIEWSHED MAP...............................................................................................17 MAP 2. VIEWSHED AND CONSERVATION LANDS.................................................................19 MAP 3. ENTIRE VIEWSHED MAP...........................................................................................21 PHOTO DOCUMENTATION ..................................................................................................23 Town of Alton, NH Scenic Resource Inventory December 2008 SUMMARY STATEMENT View from Roberts Cove Road The town of Alton, New Hampshire has a wealth of unique cultural and historic features. These include lakes, ponds, wetlands, streams, mountain peaks, valleys, agricultural land, byways, and historic buildings. The townspeople recognize the value of these resources and have taken steps to ensure these viewpoints, and corresponding viewsheds, are identified. A viewshed is the natural environment visible from one or more viewpoints. Identifying the locations of viewpoints and viewsheds will enable the development of strategies to preserve and conserve areas of high priority in town. The Alton Scenic Resource Inventory documents the purpose and process used to identify high priority viewpoints and viewsheds in town. Lakes Region Planning Commission Page 1 Town of Alton, NH Scenic Resource Inventory December 2008 (page intentionally blank) Page 2 Lakes Region Planning Commission Town of Alton, NH Scenic Resource Inventory December 2008 I. INTRODUCTION WHY DEVELOP A SCENIC RESOURCE INVENTORY? The Lakes Region is facing increasing development pressures due to population growth, particularly around our lakes and rivers and on ridgelines. In order to better prepare for growth on or near these sensitive resources, a Scenic Resource Inventory will identify areas of high priority for conservation or special protection through zoning. The inventory will highlight the breadth of viewsheds in Alton and can provide a basis for determining priority sites. In this way the town of Alton can take a proactive, planned approach to land protection. Wetland off NH Route 28 PURPOSE The purpose of this inventory is to identify areas of high priority scenic quality within the town of Alton. Many of the viewsheds in town overlap due to topography and the number of mountain peaks and water bodies, creating areas of high visibility. Concerns have been raised by the scenic resource committee about the preservation of the scenic quality of the community – potentially at risk due to development on ridgelines, steep slopes, shoreline, and conversion of agricultural lands. The Planning Board has noted a desire to work with landowners to create aesthetic buffers on identified properties to preserve views from, and of, the prevalent waterbodies and mountains in town. The inventory highlights these areas of high visibility in town in order to provide the foundation for making land use planning decisions that bring key scenic attributes and location under consideration. During the scenic resource inventory analysis, maps were created that illustrate the locations of viewpoints and high priority viewsheds. The maps provide an illustrative foundation for land use planning, such as potential overlay districts for high priority viewsheds, telecommunications towers, or other notable structures, conservation subdivisions, and steep slope and ridgeline development. Blueberry Fields off Halls Hill Road Lakes Region Planning Commission Page 3 Town of Alton, NH Scenic Resource Inventory December 2008 (page intentionally blank) Page 4 Lakes Region Planning Commission Town of Alton, NH Scenic Resource Inventory December 2008 II. COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION Lake Winnipesaukee from Mount Major In a state rich with natural scenic resources, breath-taking mountain summits and crystal-clear lakes, the town of Alton possesses an unusually bountiful share. As one of the largest municipalities in the state in terms of area, with 63.9 square acres of land mass and 19.8 square miles of inland waters, Alton’s allotment of vistas and resulting viewsheds is both extensive in size and dazzling in its scenic splendor and variety. In recent years, the “Alton Master Plan” update (c. 2007), “Alton Natural Resources Inventory” (c. 2002) and “Main Street Improvements Charrette” (c. 2001) collectively concur that identification and protected utilization of these natural resources (and their inherent viewsheds) are paramount. “To preserve specified open land….including agricultural lands, forestry lands, scenic vistas, wetlands and other important open space areas…establishing measurable criteria that defines Alton’s rural character.” (Alton Master Plan update 2007, Vision Chapter) “Protect Alton’s natural resources, watersheds, wetlands, viewsheds.” (Alton Master Plan update 2007, Land Use Recommendations) “While it is convenient and often necessary to separate natural resources into different categories it must be kept in mind that in nature nothing is separate, all is inter-related.” (Alton Natural Resources Inventory- 2002) “Create linkages through physical and visual elements…such as architecture, open spaces and streetscapes.” (Streetscape Improvement-The Village Area, Alton, NH – 2001) Alton’s scenic treasure chest includes the five-mile long, idyllic Alton Bay at the southeastern tip of Lake Winnipesaukee, the “Broads” section of the lake and southern side of Wolfeboro Harbor along with 11 named islands of varying sizes. Approximately 12,000 acres of the 44,586 acre lake (the largest in New Hampshire) and nearly 17 percent of the Lake Winnipesaukee watershed is located in Alton, the second largest percentage of any Lakes Region Planning Commission Page 5 Town of Alton, NH Scenic Resource Inventory December 2008 community in the watershed. Alton enjoys over 35 miles of shoreline with many, and sometimes conflicting, opportunities for recreation, wildlife and lacustrine habitat and residential development. The fourth-order Merrymeeting River flows a short distance from Merrymeeting Marsh (12 acres in size) to Alton Bay, encompassing a wide variety of scenic wetlands including abundant aquatic plant life and related wildlife habitat. There are also six “great” ponds (over ten acres in size) partly or wholly within the town boundaries, including Sunset Lake in the headwaters of the Suncook watershed in Alton and Gilmanton, Halfmoon Lake in the Suncook watershed in Alton and Barnstead, Hills Pond just north of Sunset Lake, Gilman Pond located in the Winnipesaukee watershed in East Alton, Knights Pond in the northeastern portion of the Winnipesaukee watershed, and Bear Pond in the Merrymeeting watershed near the New Durham town line. The glacier that covered New Hampshire over 14,000 years ago carved hills and valleys in Alton, depositing raw material for wetlands and creating