By Nicholas Brown
Staff Writer

Hooksett officials are hoping to add infrastructure along Route 3A to support the addition of a large outdoor retail store, Cabela's, without burdening taxpayers.

Town Council Chairman Michael DiBitetto said a special meeting asking voters to approve a new tax increment financing, or TIF, district is likely.

If the district is approved, the town would float a multimillion dollar bond to cover needs like sewer and road improvements that would accompany a large retail development off 3A and the I-93 Exit 11 area, said Di- Bitetto.

Bond payments would then be guaranteed by the Nebraskabased sporting goods company, and would come from tax revenue generated by the store.

"This is a great opportunity for the town of Hooksett," said DiBitetto, describing the potential retail store as a "super regional draw."

"They say their typical customer drives over 100 miles to get there," he said.

Cabela's, founded in 1961, was predominantly a mail-order outfitter until recent retail expansion, said company spokesman James Powell.

"Our retail really kicked into gear four or five years ago," he said.

Cabela's currently has 14 retail centers across the country, with four more - including one in Connecticut - soon to open.

"We've had thousands and thousands of great customers for a long time in the Northeast," said Powell.

Powell said Cabela's often suggests TIF districts as it approaches a new location.

"It brings in a funding mechanism," he said. "It allows us to partner up with a town or a state to develop improvements."

Hooksett voters approved a multi-million dollar TIF district, off I-93's Exit 10, in 1999. That area, which underwent dramatic road improvements, is now home to large retailers including Home Depot, Target, Staples and Kohl's.

"Exit 10 was a picture-perfect development of (a TIF district)," said DiBitetto. "It worked maybe a little better than we even anticipated."

Over the last five years, according to officials, the town has netted about $1.7 million in tax revenue for the general fund from the TIF district.

DiBitetto said a large Cabela's retail store just off the highway would likely entice other developers to the Route 3A, Exit 11, area, ultimately creating even greater tax revenue.

Yet for some Hooksett residents, particularly those that live in the Hackett Hill area, more commercial growth may not be welcomed with open arms.

"I think that growth is good, but it has to be done in a timely, responsible manner," said Tom Duval, who's lived in the Hackett Hill neighborhood for 22 years. "I'd hate to see this side of the river turn into Route 3 on the other side."

Duval added, "I don't want to see three lanes all the way up to Concord."

Jim Levesque, a 30-year Hackett Hill resident, said he remembers the not-too-distant past when there wasn't a single traffic light along Route 3A from Manchester to Concord.

Still, said Levesque, "I find that Exit 10 stuff pretty handy. Progress is going to come."