900 Homes Slated for Exclusive Mt. Washington Resort

(Sound of a brook running).

That’s Dartmouth Brook.

It flows through a wooded area near The Mount Washington Resort and Bretton Woods ski area.

But soon “Dartmouth Brook” will never be the same.

Even its name will mean something different.

“Dartmouth Brook” will be the name of the first step of a huge development being undertaken at the Mount Washington Resort.

The plan calls for about 900 new homes and other attractions by 2019.

Patrick Corso is the president of the Mount Washington Resort.

“The number one objective, I think is that this becomes a quintessential, definitive resort destination in New England.”

This is the classic development story.

It is a kind of passion play with hopes and fears.

There is a yearning for jobs and regional economic vitality.

But there is a concern of more people. More pollution. A loss of the natural world.

Only a few state permits still to be approved on Dartmouth Brook.

Then work can begin on the 199 homes to be built on 185 acres.

However, there’s more. Lots more.

(SOUND OF KIDS CHATTERING IN A LIFT LINE)

The area around the Bretton Woods ski lodge will be developed into an area called the Village Common.

It will have homes, shops, restaurants, office space, cobblestone sidewalks and something called “pocket parks.”

Developers are talking about a higher-education satellite campus, an artist’s colony and an outfitter to offer outdoor adventures.

The last phase will be additional homes northwest of US Route 302 behind a restaurant called Fabyans.

In all the investment will total about $1 billion.

The developers are Crosland Inc. and Celebration Associates.

The latter is headed by two of the men who played crucial roles in the creation of the picture-perfect town Celebration, Florida.

That was a Walt Disney project near Orlando.

Charles Adams is the company’s managing partner.

He says while visitors may be drawn to the resort other local businesses will benefit.

“Those people are gong to spend money in places other than the Mount Washington Hotel when they come to visit. They buy gas as they are traveling up here, they stop and they buy food at restaurants.”

Celebration will not be building all the homes, but it will control what they look like.

Adams says owners will have a choice of styles, all of which will reflect classic New England designs.

“Our planning and design team for the last two and one-half years has been doing extensive photography, architecture found in and around the immediate area and the region, the region being New Hampshire, a little bit into Vermont, a little bit in Maine. That photograph research then finds its way into a design guidelines document we call ‘The Pattern Book.’”

It is a huge project and could have a huge economic impact.

“It is an economic bright spot in a pretty dark economic period for The North Country.”

That’s Ross Gittell, a professor of management at the University of New Hampshire.

The developers hired Gittell to research the project’s economic impact.

Gittell predicts that if the all the phases are completed the region will see a terrific financial boost.

He figures it will nearly quadruple what the resort currently pumps into Coos County, adding about $71 million a year into the local economy.

And in terms of jobs, Gittell says by 2019 the completed project would mean an additional 470 full time equivalent jobs. \

Gittell: “The majority of the jobs, close to two thirds of the jobs, will be in resort operations, will be in resort management and administration. It will be front desk jobs, jobs at the ski slope, instructors, there will be jobs at the golf golf and at the spa also.”

Those jobs do not include the construction work.

Gittell estimates building the development will create about 100 jobs and about $11 million a year.

But the worry among some Coos residents is that there is no such thing as a free economic boom.

State and federal agencies will be reviewing the environmental effects.

But one of the challenges for the town of Carroll, which has about 800 residents, is figuring out all the implications of such a complex plan.

And William Rose a senior planner for the North Country Council, says a project this big can overwhelm local planners.

“This is one of the hazards of this scale development for this size community. It is tough when you are a volunteer to focus on all these different things that are happening at the same time.”

One of those volunteers is Bonnie Moroney, the chair of Carroll’s Select Board.

She seems impressed with the project’s developers..

“They seem to have been very conscientious with the town as far as trying to work with the town as much as possible, come under our rules and regulations.”

An increase in population and jobs will put an additional strain on town services, such as police and fire.

But UNH economist Ross Gittell’s predicts that increased property tax revenue will more than cover the cost of additional services.

And it may even leave the town with a nice surplus.

Still some residents and environmentalists worry about the project’s impact.

What will increased traffic, fertilizers, storm-water run-off mean to the area’s ecology?.

But Patrick Corso, President of the Mt Washington Resort says his goal is to protect the environment and wildlife because that is what draws people.

“We want to leave it the way we found it. Yes, we want to enhance the opportunities here, yes we want to explore new businesses opportunities and bring more folks to visit the region, but in essence we are not here to change it.”

Will Stoloski has owned a vacation home at Bretton Woods for several years.

He likes the idea that the resort’s growth could make it easier for local businesses to survive.

But like some others he wonders and worries.

Stoloski: “I don’t know if anybody is really looking at the long term view as to what the quality of life will be up at Mount Washington resort when it is all said and done.”

Carroll Selectwoman, Bonnie Moroney is the fourth generation of her family to live in the area.

“I guess I am used to seeing the mountains they way they were. I guess we never really minded seeing ski slopes but when you look up and see condominiums and houses and everything else versus nature the way it is it is just more or less an eye-opener. That this is the way it is going to be.”

As the project moves forward there will likely be changes.

(fade up bubbling brook sound)

But one thing is for sure.

The children who grow up in the area in the next few decades will have a different view of Dartmouth Brook, than the children in past.

For NHPR News this is Chris Jensen in Bethlehem.

(Fade out brook.)