February 13, 2012

by Jonathan Sycamore, Planning Board Member

This article has been submitted at the Request of the Windham Planning Board in an effort to educate the public on the zoning ordinance amendments that are being recommended by the for 2012 Town Meeting. A series of articles will be published each week leading up to Town Meeting on March 13th. Each article will provide a summary of one or more zoning amendments being proposed.

What Workforce housing IS (and ISN’T)

In an effort to be in compliance with NH RSA requirements, the Windham Planning Board has proposed the adoption of the town’s first ever Workforce Housing Ordinance for Town Meeting. This will be Amendment #10 on the Town Warrant.

The Workforce Housing statute (“WFH”), RSA 674:58-61 was signed into law 7/1/2009, but legislators gave towns six months to January 1, 2010 to prepare for the new statutes. The law requires towns to provide an opportunity for developers to build workforce housing. The RSA also provides an expedited appeals process to the courts if a developer believes the town is not complying with the law.

Who are the WFH buyers? This target market includes, but is not limited to, first time homeowners, teachers, police & fire personnel, and empty nesters looking to downsize, but remain in their community.

The WFH RSA basics are presented below:

· All municipalities must provide reasonable and realistic opportunities for the development of workforce housing, including rental and multifamily housing;

· The collective impact of all local land use regulations adopted under RSA 674 shall be considered to determine if such opportunities exist;

· WFH of some type must be allowed in a majority of land area where residential uses are permitted;

· Existing housing stock shall be accounted to determine if a municipality is providing its “fair share” of current and reasonable foreseeable regional need for WFH; and

· Reasonable restrictions may be made for environmental protection, water supply, sanitary disposal, traffic safety, and fire and life safety protection.

WFH means housing which is intended for sale and affordable to a household with an income at or below 100 percent of the median income for a 4-person household for the metropolitan area defined annually by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). WFH also means rental housing which is affordable to a household with an income at or below 60 percent of the median income for a 3-person household for in the same HUD metropolitan area. WFH is commonly targeted at "essential workers" in a community such as policemen, firemen, teachers, nurses, and medical personnel. For Windham this currently translates into a housing price under $281,000 and monthly rent under $1,190. So, workforce housing clearly is NOT low income or subsidized housing. WFH purchase and rental figures will fluctuate with market and economic conditions.

Unfortunately some of the RSA language is vague. For instance “fair share” has not been defined and Windham’s housing stock that qualifies as WFH is anywhere between 20% and 30%. A consultant to the Town reviewed Windham’s housing stock and ordinances and determined that Windham was overall in pretty good shape in terms of WFH profile with the only notable deficiency being in the multi-family category. If the town was challenged in court, the consultant was not confident that these percentages would justify a “Fair Share” defense. As in 2011 and 2010, we are strongly advised that Windham needs to have a workforce housing ordinance in place in order to meet its statutory requirements.

This is the first of three articles on this subject. Also look for the following in coming weeks: “Explanation of Proposed WFH Ordinance” and “Risks to Windham if it has no WFH Ordinance”

The exact ordinance language of the Workforce Housing Ordinance of all other Zoning Amendments proposed for the 2012 Town Meeting can be found on the Planning Board page of the Town website: www.windhamnewhampshire.com. The proposed amendments are also available at the Community Development Department. If you have any questions feel free to contact Community Development staff at 432-3806.