In a landslide vote during last night's Town Meeting, the citizens of Hanover approved a new $5.1 bond issue for a Lebanon Street parking structure to be partially subsidized by the College.
Opposition to the new garage totaled only 61 votes, while 499 voted in favor of the project, which will add 228 spaces to the downtown Hanover area.
The project will include a three-and-a-half story, 300-car parking garage and a 45,000-square-foot three-story commercial building on land currently owned by the Town of Hanover and the College.
The garage will be owned by the Town of Hanover, and the commercial building will be owned by Dartmouth College.
Rosey Jekes and a Fleet Bank drive-through window are currently located on the garage's site.
Jay Pierson, who chairs the project task force, told the crowd the project will be financed in what is termed a Turn-Key Development: Dartmouth will manage development and construction of the garage, and Hanover will pay back the College with the bond issue.
When construction is finished, the College will "turn the key" over to the Town of Hanover, which will be responsible for operating the garage, Pierson said. Dartmouth will own and operate the commercial building.
Hanover will finish the project with a deficit of $233,000, Pierson said. This money will be made up by increasing taxes and fees for downtown property owners and introducing what is known as a "tax increment district," in which each new development is taxed incrementally higher.
This property tax increase will force Dartmouth to pay another $32,000 to the town, with other downtown businesses contributing between $3,000 and $4,500, Pierson said.
Dartmouth will also convey an easement allowing the town to build parking spaces beneath the College's commercial building and easements allowing cars access from Lebanon Street and South Street across College property.
The town will lease the College up to 30 spaces in the parking facility on a long-term basis at no cost.
Those who opposed the construction had several complaints. Brenda Stern, who lives one block away from the garage site, said she doesn't think the garage will reduce traffic.
Steve Alden, a long-time Hanover resident, expressed his worry that this project will lead to further construction.
Before the Town Meeting, the parking project was supported by the Hanover Improvement Society, the Chamber of Commerce, the Hanover Rotary and the town's Selectmen.
In addition to the parking garage, the town also approved the construction of a bicycle path leading from Ledyard Bridge into Hanover.
The town also agreed to lease land on Medical Center Drive to the Resource Optimization Technology composting facility, or the "ROT Plot," as it is sometimes known.
