Housing Committee Minutes

MINUTES

Newbury Housing Committee Meeting

Tuesday, January 26, 2021

Virtual Meeting – 7:00 PM

Committee Members: Barbara Freeman (Chair), Richard Wright (Planning Board), Christopher Hernick (Planning Board), Matt Mynczywor, Christopher Millette, Denise Mitchell, Tom Krebs, Bruce Healey (Planning Board Chair), Alicia Zanderigo, Kristen Schultz, Russell Smith (Selectman).

Public Attending

Planning Board: Peter Stanley (Consultant to the Planning Board) and Darren Finneal. 
Selectboard Members: Joy Nowell
Other public: Thomas H., Paula Falkowski, Lea McBain, David Blohm, Ken Holmes, Cheron and Bruce Barton, Judy Healey, and June and Peter Fichter

Also Attending

Steve Whitman, Resilience Planning and Design, Consultant to the Committee

1. Introduction

Ms. Freeman welcomed everyone to the meeting. She requested that everyone keep themselves on mute. If there are any questions, they should raise their hand or put a question in the chat.

Ms. Freeman introduced herself as chair of the committee. She explained she was chosen to chair the committee because she had been a member and Chair of the Planning Board for a number of years and also she has professional experience as a planner.

Ms. Freeman explained how the committee members were chosen.  The town advertised for volunteers via local publications, email and on the Town website. All of the volunteers who were committed to do the work have become committee members.  All committee members believe that housing opportunities should be provided in Newbury.  They volunteered because they want to give back to the town.  Ms Freeman listed the volunteers.

She explained that there are two major reasons the Newbury Housing Committee was formed:

• Newbury housing stock is limited to single family, detached homes and does not provide housing that might be suitable for working people, young families, the elderly wishing to downsize or affordable housing.  Nor do the land use regulations make it possible to develop those alternative housing types.

• State law requires that communities provide opportunity for the development of a range of housing types, including Work Force Housing (WFH).   Consequently, Newbury needs to address this issue.

The committee’s charter is to review Newbury's land use regulations with the eventual goal of amending regulations to create opportunity to develop a wider range of housing in town.   The first part of the Committee work has been to assess the current housing situation in Newbury: Existing conditions, populations, and projected housing needs.  At this meeting the committee is reporting work completed thus far to the town and asking for input- "what do you think about housing availability in Newbury, what would you like to see in town?  What would you like for housing options."

Ms. Freeman then introduced Steve Whitman of Resilience Planning and Design hired by the Planning Board to assist the Committee. Steve was the consultant that facilitated and produced the 2017 Newbury Master Plan. At this meeting, he will be presenting the work, thus far, and asking for input.

2. Initial Findings of the Committee and Input from Zoom Call Residents

Ms. Freeman explained that the committee members have done background work to contribute to the needs assessment.  They spoke to employers in the area and found that there is a housing shortage, especially lower cost housing, in town and surrounding communities that impacts staff availability. 

Mr. Whitman reviewed the initial findings with the group by sharing his screen with slides. He said they have pulled together the following data:

1. Population of Newbury:

• 2018 - 1961 residents

• 2019 - 1865 residents

• 2020 - 2072 residents

2. Average age of Newbury residents:

• 41.1 in 2010

• 54.9 in 2018

​Newbury has a higher median age than the rest of the state.

Conclusion- the population has been relatively stable but it is aging.  What should Newbury's response be?  Our volunteer organizations and our town employees are or will age and no longer be a resource for the town.  Newbury needs younger people to fill jobs and become our future.  

3. Housing 

• 1697 Housing Units

• 875 Year 'round Households

This means there are 822 seasonally vacant houses.

These are underutilized resources but not likely to change.

4. 94% are single-family housing units, 5% multifamily housing units and 1% mobile homes.

Conclusion- if young families and workers cannot afford the high cost of a single-family house in Newbury, this defines a need.

Mr. Whitman launched a poll to get audience in-put on this question: What do you live in now and what do you see yourself living in in 10 years time? The results were:
- ​95% owned single-family houses, 95% owned year-round homes.  In ten years some people could see themselves living in a condo or other housing, 89% wished to remain in their homes.

Mr. Whitman said there are several housing options the committee will explore.  He showed images of the following types:

o Larger communities with smaller units

o Accessory dwellings

o Multi-family dwellings

o Neighborhood scaled developments

o Adaptive re-use housing

3. Discussion in Breakout Groups Led by the Committee Members:

Mr. Whitman broke the group into four breakout sessions and asked each group to answer the following questions:

• What are your reactions to the initial findings?

• What different housing alternatives could you see in Newbury?

Group 1 – This group agreed that the type of housing would be dependent on topography. Also, condominiums should be considered.

Group 2 – This group discussed the option of cluster housing as well as condos. They agreed that there is not an abundance ofbuildable land left in Newbury.

Group 3 – This group had a conversation regarding the current situation being that Newbury is currently expensive and primarily white and that there needs to be alternative housing. They feel that the term workforce housing should be used in place of affordable housing.

Group 4 – This group mentioned that extra housing will add stress on the services currently in town. Newbury will need to add travel options, shopping options etc.

There was a feeling that the initial findings were a great start. 

4. Additional Questions

Mr. Healey asked if we could try to reach out to more people in the public for future meetings. Discussion ensued and it was decided that the committee will reach out to more groups in the future. Mr. Stanley suggested that the committee members attend other town group’s, such as the Fire Department and the Road Department, meetings. 

5. Next Steps

Ms. Freeman said the next steps for the committee is to understand the physical constraints of the town.   The committee will drive the town and to look at the land and where other housing might fit.  The Committee will also look at other options in NH to see what various housing options look like. Finally, they will invite non-profit developers to their meeting to discuss housing development alternatives.  

She said that the committee has to have any changes that they propose for Zoning Ordinances in place by September or October of 2021 at the latest to be able to have the necessary Public Hearings to review changes and to bring them to town meeting in March of 2022. 

6. Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 8:19 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Donna Long 

Recording Secretary

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