MERRIMACK VALLEY BROWNFIELDS

ASSESSMENT PROGRAM

Evaluation, Prioritization, and Selection of Candidate Sites

Part A: Narrative

Property Status

  • Is the site municipally owned? If not, will site access, control, and/or ownership transfer pose an impediment to timely assessment and successful future redevelopment?

Community Support

  • Is the project fully supported by all affected parties in the community?

Equitable Distribution of Funds/Contamination Complexity

  • Will the site, if too large or its contamination too widespread, consume a disproportionate amount of the available EPA grant funding, thereby drastically limiting the number of sites that can be assessed region wide?

Redevelopment Potential

  • Proximity to Central Business Center – Is the site an important element of a community’s central business center, and is its current status a blighting influence on area business?
  • Infrastructure – Is the site served by municipal sewer and water? Is it accessible to major roads and public transit facilities/service?
  • Strategic or Community Development Plan – Is restoration and redevelopment of the site part of a community’s strategic plan for the area?
  • Economic Development Potential – Will the site, upon assessment and cleanup, stimulate economic investment and job creation?
  • Marketability – Has the site generated developer interest for remediation and subsequent reuse for long term sustainable development?

Environmental Justice Issues/Neighborhood Revitalization

  • Is the site proximate to sensitive populations (including minority or lower income neighborhoods), and does it pose a blighting influence or health risks? Does it hinder economic reinvestment, housing, and recreational opportunities in the neighborhood?

Environmental/Ecological Sensitivity

  • Does the site pose a risk to sensitive natural resources, such as public and private drinking water supplies, swimming areas, wetlands, rare or endangered species habitat?

Open Space & Recreation Potential

  • Does the site, upon redevelopment, offer public access, open space, or recreation opportunities (e.g., trail linkage)?

Regional Benefit

  • Will the benefits of the project extend beyond the immediate area to the rest of the municipality and region as a whole, or is it strictly a neighborhood project?

Part B: Quantitative Analysis

Ranking Criteria

/

Value

Status

Ownership / 1
3
5 / Privately owned
Transfer in progress from private to public
Publicly owned
Size / 1
3
5 / <1 acre
1-3 acres
>3 acres
Zoning / 1
3
5 / Non-commercial/industrial/residential
Residential
Commercial/industrial
Site Preparation for Redevelopment
Demolition Needed / 1
3
5 / Yes
Unknown
No
Infrastructure Needed / 1
3
5 / Yes
Unknown
No

Neighborhood

Minority Neighborhood / 1
3
5 / <10% minority Census Tract
10% - 25% minority in Census Tract
>25% minority in Census Tract
Income / 1
3
5 / <5% in Census Tract below poverty
5% - 15% in Census Tract below poverty
>15% in Census Tract below poverty

Marketability

Assessed Value Per Acre / 1
3
5 / <$250,000
$250,000 - $500,000
>$500,000
Access / 1
5 / >0.5 miles from highway/transit center
<0.5 miles from highway/transit center

Project Support

Development Plan / 0
5 / No plan
Plan exists
Tangible Action Taken / 0
3
5 / No action taken beyond plan
Tangible action taken by the town with some community support
Tangible action taken by the town with full community support
Funding Committed (other than Merrimack Valley Brownfields Assessment Program) / 0
3
5 / No other funding committed
Public or private funding committed
Both public and private funding committed