The NH House voted down a bipartisan bill meant to make it easier to build housing in the state, 188-173, killing it for the year.
By Ethan DeWitt, New Hampshire Bulletin
The New Hampshire House voted down a bipartisan bill meant to make it easier to build housing in the state, in a 188-173 vote last week that kills the legislation for the year.
Proponents of Senate Bill 538, known as the “HOMEnibus,” argued it would help dislodge barriers to housing development and give cities and towns new tools to increase housing units.
“The Municipal and County Government Committee heard much testimony that New Hampshire has a severe housing crisis,” wrote Rep. David Preece, a Manchester Democrat, in a report to the House ahead of the vote. “It is affecting businesses, the economy, and our labor market because of the lack of housing and affordability. This bill enables local governing boards to use another tool to address the housing shortage in their communities.”
The latest version of the bill allowed cities and towns to create “office conversion zones,” within which developers could get property tax breaks to convert commercial real estate buildings into residential housing. It also allowed towns and cities to speed up changes to the zoning code: The bill allowed residents to empower their local councils or boards of selectmen to pass new zoning codes; currently zoning codes may be changed only once a year at town meeting. That empowerment of local officials would need to be approved by the town via a warrant article. And the bill would require that town and city planning boards consider alternative parking options when deciding whether to approve or deny a new housing development. That would allow developers to propose housing projects that don’t include new parking lots for residents but utilize existing public or private lots; the bill would require the planning board to seriously consider those proposals.
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