Will Stewart, executive director of the Stay, Work and Play organization, testified in support of legislation aimed at creating more incentives to build affordable housing.
Will Stewart, executive director of the Stay, Work and Play organization, testified in support of legislation aimed at creating more incentives to build affordable housing.
CONCORD — Realtors, business groups and housing advocates on Tuesday endorsed a package of proposed changes meant to encourage the construction of more affordable housing across the state.
The most controversial change would limit towns’ practice of using large minimum residential building lot requirements to block the construction of more densely populated housing.
State Sen. Rebecca Perkins Kwoka, D-Portsmouth, said her bill (SB 538) was carefully crafted to respect local control while doing something to address the state’s chronic shortage of vacant housing units.
The proposal would require that at least half of a town’s residential property be of a density equal to what the Department of Environmental Services says water and sewage treatment capacity could support.
“This would base housing on the science — soil science in this case,” said Ben Frost, deputy director of New Hampshire Housing.
The bill states that towns with water and sewer connections cannot have ordinances requiring more than 10,000 square feet for each housing unit.
Bob Quinn, president of the New Hampshire Association of Realtors, said the state has allowed some cities and towns to block affordable housing, and this proposal would modestly swing the pendulum back in the other direction.
“This gives a little bit more rights back to the property owner,” Quinn said.
State Sen. Keith Murphy, R-Manchester, said the bill is going to be difficult for many lawmakers to support.
“We are going to get slaughtered politically when we vote for this. I’m going to do the right thing, but I’ve got to convince my colleagues to do this,” Murphy said.
Frost pointed out town officials still may limit housing density on just under half of their building stock.
He said the impact on a town like Bedford, which has used 2-acre zoning to prevent development, will be “minimal” at best, because the town is mostly built out and this measure would apply only to new projects.
The New Hampshire Municipal Association came out against this part of the proposal because it would violate local control, said Natch Greyes, a lobbyist who represents the NHMA.
State Sen. Daryl Abbas, R-Salem, said local boards could still block denser housing development by refusing to extend water and sewer services to the property.
The bill contained provisions related to other aspects of development.
• Tax credit: Developers could make use of a property tax credit program if they converted vacant commercial office space into residential housing in towns that approved offering the credit.
• Selectmen authority: This could permit a local board of selectmen to assume the authority to make changes in local zoning ordinances; this would not apply in a city or a town with a town council form of government. Local voters in the community first would have to approve giving the governing body this power.
• Alternative parking: This would require communities to at least consider whether they wish to permit exemptions to parking requirements for certain housing projects.
• Inclusionary zoning ordinance: This allows a community to adopt an ordinance that could require that a certain percentage of a project’s units be dedicated to workforce housing.
The Business & Industry Association, Chamber Collaborative of Greater Portsmouth, Housing Action N.H. and Stay Work Play organization all supported the measure.
