Grantham master plan workshop targets business needs, community center goals

Coffee shops, a nearby pharmacy and a possible community center framed Grantham’s latest master plan workshop as the town pushed into one of its most practical questions: what kind of business base can the community support, and how much should Eastman help carry that future.

The Grantham Master Plan Committee held its second workshop on April 13 in a panel format that was designed to draw out more than routine public comment. The town asked residents to come with questions that reached straight into daily life, including why Grantham does not have a coffee shop or pharmacy nearby. Bruce Bergeron of Jake’s, also known as Rum Brook, Drew Edmunds of Northwind Security and Steve Schneider, Eastman’s general manager, were listed as panelists, a lineup that brought together a local business owner, the town’s largest commercial landowner and one of the community’s most important institutional voices.

That mix was telling. The workshop was not just about zoning language or map lines. It was about whether Grantham wants to build around more local services, more commercial activity and maybe even a community center, or continue relying on the broader Upper Valley and southern employment centers for everyday needs. The committee had already held a February workshop on conservation, housing, accessory dwelling units and transportation, and the finished master plan is expected this summer, so the April discussion sat inside a broader planning sequence rather than standing alone.

Grantham’s own planning documents show how long these tensions have been in place. The adopted 2017 master plan said the town would remain primarily a residential community tied mainly to commercial and employment centers in the Upper Valley and communities to the south. It also said most commercial land use is concentrated at Exit 13 off I-89, where the interstate meets NH Route 10. Grantham covers 17,778 acres in northern Sullivan County, and I-89 and NH Route 10 split the town into east and west sides, shaping where growth can realistically go.

Eastman sits at the center of that equation. The 2017 plan described it as a private, four-season recreational community incorporated in 1971, covering about 3,600 acres, roughly 2,624 of them in Grantham. The development includes 336 condominiums and more than 1,000 lots for private homes. With a town population of 3,404, 2,336 housing units and a median household income of $106,403, Grantham’s next choices will affect more than convenience; they will influence the tax base, the range of local services and the balance between commercial growth and neighborhood character.

The town has wrestled with those tradeoffs before. In June 2016, the Planning Board heard a proposal for a primary-care clinic in Sawyer Brook Plaza from Adnan Khan and Dr. Steven Powell, who said they wanted to provide medical care in Grantham and estimated traffic at no more than three to four patients an hour. That history helps explain why the latest workshop matters now: Grantham is again weighing whether to make room for more services at home, or keep depending on the region around it.