The roads are usually dirt, often pocked with holes, sometimes gated off. By law, they don’t need to be maintained by the town or city. Common to rural New Hampshire, they seldom draw attention.
But this year, Class VI roads could play a new role in the push to reduce the state’s housing shortage. A law signed by Gov. Kelly Ayotte would remove local barriers to development on the roads. And not all rural lawmakers are pleased.
“My towns that I work in, they are not happy,” said Rep. Lucius Parshall, a Marlborough Democrat. “The idea that they will be held liable for keeping a Class VI road accessible if somebody should happen to want to build on it? That’s going to be an expense for the community. A lot of these communities are already strapped.”
The new law is one of many this year intended to encourage more housing development in the state by removing local barriers. That includes a law stopping cities and towns from requiring a certain number of parking spaces for new housing units, a law expanding the number of accessory dwelling units available for property owners to build by right, and a law requiring cities and towns to allow housing development in commercial zones with exceptions for areas “incompatible with residential use.”
Advocates for housing in both parties have hailed the new changes, pointing to climbing home prices, low rental vacancy rates, and noting polling suggesting housing availability is a key concern of Granite Staters. Removing the barriers will allow more development to ease the housing crunch, they say.
But as the new laws take effect, opponents of the state-led measures are predicting a backlash. And they’re hoping to overturn many of the bills, arguing the Legislature went too far. Lawmakers have filed more than a dozen bills for 2026 that seek to roll back the new zoning changes, presenting the matter as a necessity for local control.
Some opponents, like Rep. Len Turcotte, a Barrington Republican, are traveling the state to speak to towns about the zoning laws and hear from people opposed. Turcotte, the former chairman of the House Municipal and County Government Committee, has argued for years that the state should not impose zoning directives.
“The word got out that I would come and talk to people, because the towns and the citizens themselves almost 100% are against these,” Turcotte said in an interview. “I started getting calls (saying) ‘Hey, would you come up to Littleton?’, ‘Hey, would you come up to Keene?’”
Others, like Parshall, have received calls from select board members beyond their home district asking for action. Parshall has filed a bill that would repeal the law easing development on Class VI roads.
“Once it was filed, I’ve been hearing from a lot of other towns who were facing the same problems with development,” he said.
Housing remains top concern among NH residents
The backlash effort faces difficult odds. Ayotte has made her support for the housing bills clear and would likely veto any repeal bill in 2026. And housing affordability remains a top concern across the state: A poll conducted by St. Anselm College in August found that 78% of respondents believe their community “needs more affordable housing to be built.”
But opponents of the zoning laws argue that while Granite Staters might be interested in more housing, they may be less enthusiastic about the state laws requiring their local planning boards to allow that housing. That feeling could grow as more become acquainted with the new changes, they say.
“I think the stuff that passed last year got the public’s attention to the point where they’re now in tune, and they hopefully will tell their legislators, ‘Hey, get on board with this,’ ” said Turcotte, who has co-sponsored many of the repeal bills.
Just as support for zoning overhauls includes Republican and Democratic leaders, opposition has also crossed party lines.
Rep. David Preece, a Manchester Democrat, says he believes the state has a serious housing crisis. But he says the current shortage should be addressed through increased state and federal investment, not through state mandates.
And he says he is hearing from constituents who are concerned about the state’s approach.
“I believe in mixed use (development), and I believe that multi-family housing is a way of addressing affordable housing. But not all communities have the infrastructure in place which would allow them to do that,” he said.
‘Franken-zoning’ fears
Preece is sponsoring many of the 2026 bills that would repeal the recent zoning law changes. One would undo the law barring municipalities from requiring more than one parking lot per unit; another would pull back the recently expanded law allowing accessory dwelling units by right.
Those and other bills are backed by the New Hampshire Municipal Association, which represents selectboards and planning boards, and which has consistently opposed efforts in Concord to force zoning law changes.
The concern, argues Margaret Byrnes, executive director of the Municipal Association, is that the new laws are both overly restrictive and overly vague. Cities and towns will struggle to know when they may lawfully block a development, she said in an interview. That uncertainty could increase legal costs to towns, and until courts can establish precedents for how to enforce the laws, it could create a fragmented system of enforcement, Byrnes argues.
“We’re moving to a very weird place where there’s going to be a patchwork Franken-zoning, where it’s a mix of municipal ordinances, state mandates that may or may not be reflected in the actual written ordinance but that they’re supposed to be complying with, and case decisions interpreting various local zoning ordinances and various state mandates,” Byrnes said. “It’s going to make for an increasingly inconsistent framework for land use and zoning in New Hampshire.”
The new law requiring housing development be allowed in commercial zones — with exceptions — is an example of that uncertainty, Byrnes said. According to the law, exceptions where homes would be incompatible include “air, noise, odor, or transportation impacts.” But without further definitions, Byrnes argued, those exceptions are hard to apply.
One bill filed by Preece would allow municipalities to establish a more stringent siting review process to designate which areas of a commercial zone are suitable for housing.
The Municipal Association has also taken issue with the law requiring detached accessory dwelling units to be allowed in single-family districts, arguing its parameters are also vague for municipalities. And it supports Parshall’s bill to repeal the Class VI road changes. Allowing development on unmaintained roads could be costly for towns due to the need to provide access for emergency vehicles on those roads.
“A lot of our more rural members with massive amounts of miles of these Class VI roads, they’re very much not at ease,” said Brodie Deshaies, legislative advocate for the Municipal Association.
Pushback to the pushback
Advocates for the housing bills argue the new laws are necessary to break logjams that have built up in communities across the state, in which town and city zoning codes all but prevent meaningful development from taking hold.
But after a summer of legislative victories, some housing advocates have acknowledged that 2026 may require them to play defense.
At a pro-housing convention Monday hosted by the Business and Industry Association, the statewide chamber of commerce, speakers praised the new laws but also warned of coming opposition.
“I think when you’re successful in creating momentum and getting results, that sometimes creates a pushback from those who might disagree with you, and we are already seeing efforts and discussions around trying to roll back some of the progress we’ve made before it’s even had a chance to do its work,” said Michael Skelton, president and CEO of the BIA. “And that’s just simply unacceptable.”
Advocating for more pro-housing legislation, Matt Mayberry, the CEO of the New Hampshire Homebuilders Association, put it simply: “You take your eye off the ball, they’re going to take the ball and run with it. We have to continue.”
Now, facing a slew of repeal bills, some housing advocates have expressed frustration with the Municipal Association itself.
“The Municipal Association was given multiple opportunities to present language to the Housing Committee as these bills went through the legislative process, however no language was presented,” said Rep. Joe Alexander, a Goffstown Republican and the chairman of the House Housing Committee, in a statement. “This year it’s not surprising to me that they continue their ineffective strategy of obstruction instead of coming to the table with opportunities to address the housing shortage.”
Alexander added: “I encourage towns to use their taxpayer dollars on a more effective lobbying organization.” He said the bills would receive a fair hearing in his committee.
Municipal Association representatives and lawmakers leading the backlash say they support solutions to the housing shortage that don’t involve zoning code overhauls.
Turcotte said the free market will create pressures for cities and towns to voluntarily increase housing. Preece agreed, adding he believes communities should be encouraged to do so with funding incentives. And Byrnes said more resources should be spent on reducing infrastructure costs for towns — like funds for increased water and sewer lines or upgrades to aging bridges.
“Zoning did not get us into the housing crisis, and it is not going to get us out of the housing crisis,” Byrnes said.
“… We have not seen any conversation around the cost of construction, the cost of labor, the impacts of tariffs, the impacts of mortgage rates, or all of the other factors that are affecting how much housing actually costs.”
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