Feb. 14 Housing Matters Newsletter

Welcome to another week of the Housing Matters Newsletter! 

Next Friday (2/21), we will host our monthly Housing Matters Zoom meeting at 10:00am. You can register for the meeting, which happens on the third Friday of each month, here.

This meeting will take a slightly different format than our typically keynote speaker followed by a legislative update. We will start with our legislative update and wrap up by 10:30 so that folks can join the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute’s (NHFPI) comprehensive review of the Governor’s State Budget Proposal. The NHFPI webinar begins at 10:30 and we highly encourage anyone interested in learning more about the budget to attend. If you would like to attend the NHFPI webinar, please register here.

As always, if you have questions about the legislation we mention in the newsletter or housing-related proposals that aren’t included, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

If this newsletter was forwarded to you, and you want to receive future updates, you can sign up here. 

Best,
Nick Taylor

Director
Housing Action NH
nick@housingactionnh.org

Senate Bill 158, which would double the Community Development Finance Authority’s tax credit program from $5 million to $10 million per year, passed unanimously on the consent calendar and will now move to the Senate Finance Committee. This program helps support local economic development, including housing development, and the expansion of the program would allow for additional resources to go to historic housing preservation (ie. converting underutilized historic structures to housing).

Senate rules do not require the Senate Finance Committee to hold a second public hearing, so they may vote on SB 158 in an Executive Session scheduled for Tuesday. 

Please consider writing to the Senate Finance Committee letting them know that you support SB 158.

If you missed Governor Ayotte’s budget address, you can watch it here. The Governor rolled out a new proposal to streamline state permitting by creating a 60 days process for all state permits, and moved the Fish and Game and Department of Natural Resources permits to the Department of Environmental Services. We are still digging through the budget and will be reviewing the policy trailer bill when it’s released. We encourage you to join the Zoom meetings next week to learn more.

Executive Session – Following a public hearing, the Committee will review legislation, propose potential amendments, and recommend how a bill moves forward. On Tuesday, we expect the House Housing Committee to make a recommendation on HB 577 (ADUs) and a few other priority bills.

9:45 am — Senate Bill 173, relative to residential property subject to housing covenants under the low income housing tax credit program.

• What The Bill Does: This bill establishes a clear formula for assessing the value of Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) housing developments.
• Why It Matters: LIHTC developments have strict affordability requirements to serve lower-income earners. This important role they play in the housing market means that the value of the development is less than that of a typical unrestricted, market-rate development; however, when assessed for property tax purposes, these developments can end up paying market-rate property taxes. This bill, the result of years of work from the Assessing Standards Board, would create a clear assessing standard that factors in the affordability restrictions.

10:00 am — Senate Bill 282, relative to stairway requirements in certain residential buildings.

• What The Bill Does: This bill would modify the state building code to allow for additional multi-family designs with one staircase.
• Why It Matters: Building code requirements, along with local zoning requirements, are the key drivers in what type of housing is allowed to be built and what it looks like. One requirement is that buildings have two exit stairways that are accessible from all points on each floor. This limits the range of sizes and floor plans available to architects and developers – and the data shows that it doesn’t have an impact on safety. Read more about single-stair reform here.

10:15 am — Senate Bill 284, relative to the required maximum number of residential parking spaces.

• What The Bill Does: This bill limits residential parking spaces to one per unit with exceptions for certain workforce housing and multi-family developments, where the limit that can be required is 1.5 spaces per unit.
• Why It Matters: Parking requirements are often one of the key limiting factors for housing development. They can create seas of pavement or lead to expensive garages that drive the price of the home up. Parking reform doesn’t lead to no parking, it leads to right-sized parking that fits the unique needs of each development.

The House of Representatives will convene for session on Thursday, February 20th. There are no high-priority housing bills on the floor.

The Senate next Senate session will be at the call of the Senate President (likely Thursday, March 6th).

SB 158, which would double the Community Development Finance Authority tax credit program from $5 million to $10 million per year, passed unanimously on the consent calendar and will now move to the Senate Finance Committee. 

End “Snob Zoning” to Create More Homes 

Last week, State Senator Keith Murphy wrote an Op-Ed in the Union Leader in support of Senate Bill 84, which would create baseline standards regarding lot size regulations in a majority of residential zoned land. Read the full Op-Ed here.