Who wants land?

[Free libertarian]

....I like the idea of people going in on large parcels but  I think a few hundred acres split several ways would be more practical to accomplish.   While I'm not sure if I know where the large parcel mentioned here earlier is, you might want to think about snow, isolation and a good deal of the land being difficult to build on due to swamp, slope or ledge.  The top of the state has some pretty rugged terrain and temperatures, even Bigfoot has been known to shun certain northern slopes up there when the wind gets howling.

   (Okay Lloyd... this is the part where I tell them to move to Grafton)
.....Move to Grafton.

[John Edward Mercier]

Sandwich and Campton are south of the Notch.

[FreelanceFreedomFighter]

Is there anyone who would like to buy part of a large parcel in central-ish NH? (Not lakes area, too expensive.  )

How much is a reasonable price per acre in folk's opinions? (not a "steal", but "reasonable"... more info below in order to better assess the situation...)

How large a lot would folks like to get? (I know, everyone wants a bajillion acres, but what if it's a pretty big parcel and lots could be, say 10-15 acres... what do folks think of that lot size, with perhaps multiple lots being available if someone really wanted 20, 30, 40 acres?)

How far from "town" (shopping, movies, fuel, restaurants, pharmacy, etc.) is acceptable?

Would a class VI (turned into a class V for the large parcel to be split up) be acceptable? (That's just a dirt road... no pavement.)

No utilities currently, but cellphones seem to work fine, so utilities would either have to be brought in or folks would have to learn to live "off-grid".  Is that acceptable?

Other thoughts?

[John Edward Mercier]

Why would it need to be Class V?
Is this a piece you already own? Are investigating?

[FreelanceFreedomFighter]

In order to be subdivided into lots or separate parcels, each parcel must be able to be accessed via a "class V" road by NH laws. The difference between class VI and class V is that there is maintenance on a class V road (usually by the "governing" municipality).

I know of a specific parcel and have already started the process. It would (obviously) help me (financially) if I could get others (like-minded people, naturally) to buy parcels. If not, that's OK too... I like it anyway. 

[Landon Jeffery]

In order to be subdivided into lots or separate parcels, each parcel must be able to be accessed via a "class V" road by NH laws. The difference between class VI and class V is that there is maintenance on a class V road (usually by the "governing" municipality).

I know of a specific parcel and have already started the process. It would (obviously) help me (financially) if I could get others (like-minded people, naturally) to buy parcels. If not, that's OK too... I like it anyway. 

Financially how much would a 10-15 acre parcel end up costing one?

[Eli]

And second, bordering the national forest means sooner or later the government is going to try some eminent domain action on whoever buys it.

Howso? The logical thing for the gov't to do is use their own land to accomplish what they have in mind, I'd expect... which is probably the flaw in my thinking...

Seems all the decent deals on good land is for huge tracts at huge prices (the price per acre sometimes works out to be quite nice, tho).

Sounds like you've never had the BLM as a neighbor.

[FreelanceFreedomFighter]

Financially how much would a 10-15 acre parcel end up costing one?

I'm not exactly sure. That's why I asked the initial questions, because it all depends on how much it costs to put roadway(s) to various areas, improve existing roadways (some areas can only be traversed with ATVs currently), desire for utilities, etc.

[John Edward Mercier]

Which municipality is it?
How do you intend to 'force' them to upgrade the road to Class V?
RSA 674 handles subdivision and requires certain legal and financial events to occur for this upgrade.

[FreelanceFreedomFighter]

How do you intend to 'force' them to upgrade the road to Class V?
RSA 674 handles subdivision and requires certain legal and financial events to occur for this upgrade.

I'm not planning to "force" anyone to do anything. The "upgrade", physically, would be done at my expense... Having a town agree to the change to class V is done through all of the town boards and jumping through those hoops. I'm not sure it is something that is worth my time, effort and money to do... it depends on whether there are people interested in buying parcels and what they are willing to pay for the land. If the price per parcel is equal or greater than the costs associated with upgrading the existing "roadways" (as they are) and jumping through the necessary hoops with the town boards, then it's going to be worthwhile, otherwise... 

[John Edward Mercier]

Use a 501c non-profit association with a perpetual lease format to avoid the problem.

[firecracker joe]

be careful what you wish for you just might get it.
I bought 24 acres in canterbury 10 years ago on a class 6 road figuring i could do the road work myself which is a half mile to my land , bought a backhoe spent all my time and $$ on materials, culverts, etc... then it was a constant fight with the beavers now it is a constant fight with the des who will not be happy until i go broke on engineers and wetland scientists. I love my land but between taxes and state bullshit i'm starting to wonder if it is/ was worth it. I had it subdivided into 3 lots but town will not approve until i upgrade road to class 5 which is what i will work towards this summer . road work and road materials are expensive. so make sure you look at all angles before spending your money nothing is free not even dirt. the good part is psnh had to run power cheap which meant they did alot of road clearing that i did not have to do. but in the long run it wasnt that much. If anyone is interested in upgrading a half mile of road and deal with des i would give 5+ acres when road is class 5. i already paid $18,000 for subdivision plan. Jose

[FreelanceFreedomFighter]

be careful what you wish for you just might get it.
I bought 24 acres in canterbury 10 years ago on a class 6 road figuring i could do the road work myself which is a half mile to my land , bought a backhoe spent all my time and $$ on materials, culverts, etc... then it was a constant fight with the beavers now it is a constant fight with the des who will not be happy until i go broke on engineers and wetland scientists. I love my land but between taxes and state bullshit i'm starting to wonder if it is/ was worth it. I had it subdivided into 3 lots but town will not approve until i upgrade road to class 5 which is what i will work towards this summer . road work and road materials are expensive. so make sure you look at all angles before spending your money nothing is free not even dirt. the good part is psnh had to run power cheap which meant they did alot of road clearing that i did not have to do. but in the long run it wasnt that much. If anyone is interested in upgrading a half mile of road and deal with des i would give 5+ acres when road is class 5. i already paid $18,000 for subdivision plan. Jose

Hi Jose,

I have another piece of property that I subdivided into four parcels. I currently live on one parcel. I've spent over $36k on "town mandated" engineering/surveys. When I started the process it was when it was a "seller's market"... I just finished going through the town's hoops for the final approvals this past fall... 3+ years and besides the $36k on the engineering/surveys, I had to pay the town over $5k in "fees", etc. At one of the board meetings, when I voiced my frustration at their dragging the process out and costing me so much $$$, one of the board members had the nerve to look at me and say, (exact quote - my attorney witnessed this in disbelief) "We have to see how much we can get out of you." That same board had one of their former members bring in a complicated much larger subdivision plan, without any engineering or surveys, and not only did the board wave the fees for this person, but they also approved the subdivision in ONE meeting! (I went to many, many meetings which always seemed to be useless because they wanted "more information".) Now, obviously, the market is in the tank and the town board members could care less that they've cost me a LOT of money in actual expenses along with lost value on the parcels because of the change in market conditions. They have NO culpability in their own eyes. I think they should be held personally responsible for their actions...

So... I understand what I'd be getting into. I was only thinking about it because of forming a community of "like-minded" freedom-loving folks seemed like a win-win to me (if I could work it out so all parties would be happy). This is just another reason why I despise government and it's minions!

[Lloyd Danforth]

One of our citizens here in Grafton videotapes all of the Planning Board meetings.

[Recumbent ReCycler]

http://www.fear.org/scott.html

Early on the morning of Oct. 2, 1992, 31 officers from the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, Drug Enforcement Administration, Border Patrol, National Guard and Park Service came roaring down the narrow dirt road to Scott's rustic 200-acre ranch. They planned to arrest Scott, the wealthy, eccentric, hard-drinking heir to a Europe-based chemicals fortune, for allegedly running a 4,000-plant marijuana plantation. When deputies broke down the door to Scott's house, Scott's wife would later tell reporters, she screamed, "Don't shoot me. Don't kill me." That brought Scott staggering out of the bedroom, hung-over and bleary-eyed -- he'd just had a cataract operation -- holding a .38 caliber Colt snub-nosed revolver over his head. When he pointed it in the direction of the deputies, they killed him.

They came to steal his land pure and simple and in the end they drove his widow off the property. Fuckin' pirates. Just remember the republicans started the war. Until they end it I have a hard time to begin to forgive.

Tom, you can't blame all Republicans for what a relatively small number of them did, and you can't blame just the Republicans because the Democrats were in on it too.