Matt Monahan’s family has been in New Hampshire for centuries, but he’s not sure how long that streak will last. He says he doesn’t think his teenage son will be able to afford to buy a home and settle down in the state.
Monahan is a senior planner with the Central New Hampshire Regional Planning Commission so he’s familiar with a barrier that makes it difficult to bring in more housing his son could afford: local zoning regulations.
“The problem with zoning is that it's usually being done for good reason,” Monahan said. “And then there's an unintended consequence that affects another part of the population.”
The dynamic Monahan is describing — regulations meant to guide smart growth that may also slow down affordable housing development — is one many New Hampshire communities are balancing right now.
Monahan was one of the presenters at a recent forum put on by the town’s Housing Committee. Inside the local elementary school cafeteria, Warner residents and housing experts debated zoning changes that would allow more homes to be built. Housing experts say town governments hold the power to bring affordable housing to the state, and Warner residents, like most Granite Staters, believe home prices are an issue.
“It's heartbreaking,” one resident said. “Every day that goes by, I see a larger amount of people who can't get a home.”
One proposal residents are considering is decreasing the lot size necessary for a home to be built on, allowing more units to be built on smaller pieces of land. In Warner, 67% of the land zoned for residential construction requires a home to be built on at least 5 acres of land.
Smaller lots make it more affordable for developers to build, and in theory, more units in the area will lead to cheaper rents and home prices. New Hampshire voters say they are overwhelmingly in favor of allowing single-family homes to be built on small lots.
It’s one thing to encourage more housing development in areas that are already residential, but one Warner resident said they were only in favor of that change if conservation and recreation areas weren’t touched.
“It's zoned that way for a reason,” he said. “To keep the woodlands, the density low so that, you know, all the animals can run through the woods.”
Residents’ echoed the concern that with zoning changes, the rural character of the town could change. One solution many supported was easing restrictions so more vacant buildings could be converted into apartments or condos.
“There might be an old farmhouse on a property that you could divide into three units, but it would still look like an old farmhouse,” said Laura Hallahan, a real estate agent and member of Warner's Housing Committee.
The committee plans to review residents’ feedback from the forum and work on revised zoning proposals. They aim to then bring the updated proposals before residents at Town Meeting next year.
No matter how Warner residents vote next spring, it will still be a long time before more affordable housing will be built in the town.
“If you were to snap your fingers and say all the solutions are in place tomorrow morning, it'd still take probably 10, 15, 20 years for it to play out to the point where it would lower cost,” Monahan said.
