What happened in Nottingham?

Thomas Moulton, the Seacoast entrepreneur, proposed converting a vacant warehouse on Route 4 into a data center to the Nottingham planning board in May, which was first reported by InDepthNH.

In the days leading up to the planning board meeting, a petition online garnered more than 25,000 signatures.

Moulton withdrew his application hours before the meeting last Wednesday, where he was slated to discuss the proposal.

He cited the fierce criticism from local residents, which included a planned protest outside the meeting.

Protestors still gathered outside the meeting on May 27, and dozens of residents spoke out against data centers during the meeting’s public comment section.

What caused public pushback to the data center?

Kristen Lamb, who serves on the town’s conservation committee and master plan update subcommittee, said she was concerned about water quality impacts, increased electricity bills and noise pollution. She said Nottingham residents care deeply about protecting the natural landscape.

“We have a history of prioritizing our natural history, our natural resources and water quality” she said.

Numerous studies have found the energy consumption of data centers could place a serious strain on water infrastructure and power grids.

Plus, Lamb argued that building a data center would violate the town’s zoning ordinances.

In the days leading up to last week’s meeting, Lamb spoke out online and wrote letters detailing her concerns to the planning board and Gov. Kelly Ayotte.

What does state law say?

Data centers have become an increasingly hot-button issue in state legislatures across the country.

In New Hampshire, Democratic legislators introduced Senate Bill 439 earlier this year, which would have created a statewide definition of data centers and granted local municipalities more authority over regulating them. Sen. Debra Altschiller co-sponsored the bill.

“[Building data centers is] one of the fastest growing and, quite frankly, most disruptive forms of industrial development in the country,” said Altschiller. “It’s something brand new, and we can’t treat the development of AI data centers as if it is just any other kind of manufacturing.”

In a Senate committee in January, Sen. Timothy Lang, a Republican, introduced an amendment that pushed the legislation in the opposite direction.

“Basically, what the amendment does is rewrite the bill,” he said during the committee meeting on Jan. 20. The amended bill would instead limit towns’ ability to regulate data centers, and allow them in commercial and industrial zones.

The amended bill passed the House Committee on Municipal and County Government along party lines on May 5.

However, it died in a bipartisan floor vote in the House, 304-11, meaning there was no real movement in state laws or regulations on data centers this year.

“Municipalities are left with whatever they have in place right now, today,” said Altschiller. “And it’s not a whole lot.”

Democrats in the House also introduced a bill that would prohibit building data centers in the state and create a committee to study their environmental impact. It failed in committee.

What happens now?

Despite Moulton’s withdrawal, Kristen Lamb said he could still reintroduce the proposal in the future or another developer could try a similar plan, so she and other residents are continuing their fight.

“Our town is interested in moving forward with a moratorium or exploring what we can do to make it explicit that data centers or any kind of commercial industry that has that kind of impact on our water, residents income and way of life and wildlife doesn’t get passed,” she said.

The planning board’s workshop meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on June 3 at the town office building.

DOVER — Summer looks like it’ll be packed with fun activities in the Garrison City. With a Porchfest neighborhood music festival, a new city park slated to open, fireworks, a celebration of the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” a concert series and fun events for kids, there will be no shortage of things to do.  

Here’s what to know about events in Dover in summer 2026:

Porchfest Dover

Looking for an afternoon of free music? Porchfest has got you covered. The city’s first Porchfest Sunday, June 14, will feature local performances outside people’s homes and downtown, bringing the community together. There are more than 30 bands to perform, according to organizer Steve Sulewski, and 14 stages.

Sulewski said he recently moved to Dover and is from Massachusetts. He previously hosted Porchfest events for multiple years and had a great experience, and said he was reminiscing on that, and thought “maybe we could start our own Porchfest.”

So, with a community effort, Porchfest will come to Dover. He said they thought to have the effort start out small with only a few houses for the event. However, there was a huge interest, with many bands asking to perform, and Matt Freeman stepped in and helped get the word out. Sulewski said there’s a “wide variety of talent,” such as rock, alternative, hip hop, jazz and blues. The performers list and with locations and times are posted at porchfestdover.com.

Nebi Park to open

The more than 3-acre public park, called Nebi Park, in the Waterfront District has been coming along. Mayor Dennis Shanahan said an opening ceremony open to the public is currently in the works, and the week of July 13 is being considered for the event.

Water access, a gathering space, public restrooms and a walkway along the Cocheco River will be featured at the park, according to Chris Parker, deputy city manager.

The park will feature a public pavilion, and Cochecho River Recreation was recently approved for a lease to operate at the pavilion. CRR will offer kayak rentals for river use on weekends and provide opportunities for residents to keep personal kayaks at the waterfront. Rentals may extend to weekdays in the future.

Parker noted the operator also hopes “to work with the Recreation Department to offer youth education and group tours of the River and educational programming about the ecosystem.”

Dover Public Library to reopen, ribbon cutting

The Dover Public Library at 73 Locust St. has undergone major renovations over more than a year, and is scheduled to reopen Friday, June 26 at 9 a.m. with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The public is invited to attend and explore the renovated library during an open house from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, June 26, and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, June 27.

The renovation is adding approximately 3,000 square feet, library director Denise LaFrance previously said. The children’s room on the ground level is also expanded, LaFrance has said.

40th annual Cochecho Arts Festival

The summer long 40th annual Cochecho Arts Festival presented by the Greater Dover Chamber of Commerce is set to bring music and arts to the city. Starting July 10, weekly Friday night concerts featuring many local artists are free to the public, located at the Rotary Arts Pavilion Stage at Henry Law Park from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Here’s the schedule:

• July 10: Jon Nolan & Good Co.
• July 17: Lightheaded Collective & Diaspora Radio plays “Let it Be” by The Beatles
• July 24: Coyote Smoke & Sneaky Miles
• July 31: Wheel of Awesome
• August 7: Foxglove & Caitlin Piper
• August 14: The Speed of Sound

By JEFFREY HASTINGS, InDepthNH.org

A group gathered in front of the City Hall Annex for a short presentation by Manchester True Collaborative, US Senator Maggie Hassan’s representative and Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais’s representative.

The flag raising denotes the beginning of pride month in New Hampshire. 

On June 27th, the annual Pride Parade will be held in downtown Manchester and an event held at Veterans Park.