A new statewide project is pushing for more young and diverse voices on local land use boards. These boards hold a lot of power over zoning and what is built in New Hampshire communities, and could play a large role in fighting the current shortage of affordable housing in the state.
Yet around half of New Hampshire’s land use boards have at least one vacancy, and most boards consist mainly of longtime homeowners. NowWhatNH is a coalition of educators, housing experts and community leaders trying to make it easier for people to serve on these boards.
NowWhatNH advisory board member Molly Lunn Owen says it’s important to get input from underrepresented groups that provide diverse viewpoints and life experiences.
“These boards have an incredible opportunity to shape what a community looks like, what types of housing are available, and also how much they cost for a renter or an owner to buy,” Owen said.
Owen spoke with NHPR’s All Things Considered host Julia Furukawa about the power of land use boards and why she believes more people, especially renters and younger people, should join them.
Transcript
Julia Furukawa: So, Molly, can you tell me about these land use boards? What are they able to do and why are they important in bringing more affordable housing to New Hampshire?
Molly Lunn Owen: This project NowWhatNH was founded out of New Hampshire's housing crisis. You might be aware we have a less than 1% vacancy rate and many cities' and towns' rents increased about 20% across the state last year. And it's increasingly hard for people, young people specifically, to afford a place to stay, a place to live, a place to build their family and invest in their community. So the importance of land use boards—sometimes it's not especially obvious. I remember when I learned about my local planning and zoning board, it sounded like really boring homework. And I've learned throughout the process of being a member of my local planning board in Manchester, for about two years now, that these boards have an incredible opportunity to shape what a community looks like, what types of housing are available, and also how much they cost for a renter or an owner to buy. So these land use boards have a huge amount of power over determining whether your grandparents can live with you, whether you can rent a small unit as a teenager or a recent college graduate, or have to live with your parents because there is no housing available, which is the situation for many people right now.
Julia Furukawa: As we've heard from you, these land use boards have an incredible amount of power. So why is it important that they are filled with different and diverse voices?
Molly Lunn Owen: I don't believe, and this project definitely doesn't believe, that these land use boards are intentionally leaving voices off the table. My own personal experience is that I have no professional background in planning, but I play an important role on my local planning board because I'm a resident of the city. I'm the only renter on the Manchester planning board. I'm the only woman on the Manchester planning board, and I give voice to those communities who might not have the time or the interest or the access to child care to show up at a hearing and say, ‘I really need a crosswalk there.’
Julia Furukawa: So as important as these land use boards are, they're somewhat bureaucratic. Serving on one, it takes time. It could be complicated and it's unpaid volunteer work. So what does the project plan to do to get more people to take interest in this?
Molly Lunn Owen: It's I know that it sounds bureaucratic, but it's definitely the my favorite part of my month, showing up at my local planning board meeting. The community is not aware that these boards exist or what they do or how to get on to it. There's a lack of accessibility in terms of [the fact that] it's not always the most welcoming room to walk into. So part of the goal is to educate people on the process by which one would either advocate at a public hearing or propose an application before a board. And the final challenge, I think, people have in not wanting to serve on a board is they don't have the confidence. It's a combination of building awareness, making these boards more accessible and educating people on how to join them, and also giving people the confidence to raise their hand and step up and serve.
Julia Furukawa: And for someone who's listening who thinks, hey, that sounds like something I might want to do, that fits who I am. How might they get involved and what resources are available to help someone through this process?
Molly Lunn Owen: Half of these land use boards are appointed roughly, and half of them are elected. In Manchester, these land use boards are appointed. So I submitted a resumé and a super short letter of interest, I think, just within an email to the mayor. And I want to say a month later, I was appointed as an alternate. The filing deadline to come to your town clerk and say, ‘Hey, I'm interested in serving on my local land use board, it's an elected board and I want to file to run for office,’ is this year. It is Feb. 3 for the communities that have a town meeting day in March this year.
Julia Furukawa: So coming up pretty soon.
Molly Lunn Owen: Coming up pretty soon. [To start] the process to figure out whether your land use board is appointed or elected, you can go to NowWhatNH.com. And there's actually a dropdown, I believe, on the first page to pick your town and see what the process is, see how many vacancies there are.
