Housing Committee Minutes
MINUTES
Housing Committee Meeting
Tuesday, March 23, 2021
Virtual Meeting – 7:00 PM
Limk to the recording of the meeting
Committee Members: Barbara Freeman (Chair), Richard Wright (Planning Board), Bruce Healey (Planning Board), Christopher Hernick (Planning Board), Matt Mynczywor, Christopher Millette, Denise Mitchell, Steph Spaulding, Kristen Schultz, Darren Finnereal (Planning Board), Tom Krebs, and Alicia Zanderigo.
Public Attending
Andrew Winter (Panelist), Jim Menihane (Panelist), Kevin Lacasse (Panelist), Tom Vanatta, Ed Thorsen (Selectman), Joy Nowell (Selectman), Linda Hagan, Liz Tentarelli, Ann Marie Appel, Ed Wollensak, George Reagan, Robert Mattis, John Garrity, Dag Lidbeck, Linnea Harrold, June Fichter, Garry Keane, Michael Kiess and Ben Harold.
Additional Public Attending (these individuals were not recognized by the committee secretary and their last name was not on their screen- Please contact Barbara at mehrenfreeman@aol.com if you want to be included in future meetings)
Bob, Susie, Leslie and Mark
Panel Presentation (this meeting has been recorded, a link to the recording is available on Newbury Town website)
Ms. Freeman shared that the objective of the Newbury Housing Committee, as an ad hoc committee appointed by the Newbury Planning Board, is to review Newbury's land use regulations to determine ways that the regulations can be changed to permit the development of more diverse housing in addition to single family residences on two-acre lots.
Ms. Freeman introduced Consultant Steve Whitman of Resilience Planning & Design who is assisting the Committee in this process.
Ms. Freeman noted that the purpose of the Panel presentation and Q and A that evening was to further the education of the committee about housing types, work force and affordable housing and how it is developed. To that end, three professionals, all representing different aspects of developing work force housing have been asked to participate. They were Jim Manihane, the Director of Multi-Family Organizations and Business Development with the New Hampshire Housing Finance Agency (NHHFA); Andrew Winter, Executive Director of Twin Pines Housing Trust, a non-profit housing developer in the Upper Valley; and Kevin Lacasse, Owner and founder of New England Family Housing, a for-profit workforce/affordable housing developer.
Ms. Freeman introduced presenter Jim Menihane first.
Jim Menihane Presentation
Jim spoke about the following topics:
What is Workforce Housing?
- Renter family of 3 making 60% of area median income
- Owner family of 4 making 100% of area median income
- Does not include age-restricted housing
- Does not include housing developments with greater than 50% of units housing less than 2 bedrooms
Statistically, in NHHFA supported housing: Who Lives in Workforce Housing?
- 2.51 people in household
- $31,000 household income
- $938/ month gross rent to income ration
- .65 school age children (all units)
- .51 school age children (2 bedrooms)
- 26% of household are retired
- 39% age 55+
- 22% age 65+
- 91% came from within NH
- 52% came from same town
- 24% came from within same county
- 15% came from a different county
- 9% came from out of state
- 1.4% came from MA
What is the Primary Program that Finances Workforce Housing?
- Mr. Menihane gave a brief description on how the low-income housing tax credit program works.
- Towns can also support Work Force Housing development by donating land or buildings
A slide presentation was given of some samples of housing.
Ms. Freeman then introduced panelist Andrew Winter.
Andrew Winter Presentation
Mr. Winter gave a description as to what Twin Pines Housing is and the resident supportive services that they offer.
What is Affordable Housing?
- Housing is considered affordable when costs are less than 30% of family income.
- Eligibility based on income and household size.
- HUD determines an area median income for each housing market.
- Subsidized Housing – Residents pay 30% of their income toward rent and the balance is subsidized by the federal government.
Workforce Housing – In N.H. it is 60% of the area median
What is the Need for Additional Affordable Housing?
- Housing prices are high especially near cord economic centers.
- Rental Vacancy rates are exceptionally low in Lebanon, N.H./V.T. area.
- Waiting lists for affordable units often measured in years.
- Deficit of approximately 4,000 housing units in Upper Valley region
- The median gross rent in the Lebanon NH/VT area has doubled since 2000 while wages have remained flat.
- Particular challenges in high-cost communities which often have high percent of second homes.
What does Twin Pines Housing Look for When Developing Housing?
- Access to town water and sewer
- Near or on public transit
- Near services
- This pushes them toward sites near downtown areas
- This can include brownfield sites
- Building is expensive so density becomes important to spread costs over more units
- Also, opportunities for small, scattered site projects that can be developed with common financing.
What can Communities do to Support Housing Creation?
- Review zoning regulations
- Survey town owned land/buildings for opportunities
- Support applications for funding.
Finally, Ms. Freeman introduced presenter Kevin Lacasse.
Kevin Lacasse Presentation
Workforce Housing from a For-Profit Developer’s Position
- Single Family Home Cluster Subdivision
- Apartment Communities
- Manufactured Housing Communities
Single Family Home Cluster Subdivision
- Good ordinance to reduce infrastructure costs
- Reduces linear distance of roads and utilities
- Costs for roads and infrastructure can range depending on town requirements
- Great end product but nearly impossible to produce and sell all the affordability ranges set by HUD.
Apartment Communities
- Market Rate Apartments (funded by conventional sources) require rents to be substantially higher than affordable range limits.
- Workforce/Affordable Housing (funded by government programs such as LIHTC, CDBG, HOME, etc.) Rents are capped at affordable prices.
Manufactured Housing Communities
- Review of town ordinance to see if permissible.
- Benefits include several finance options available to developer, roads and infrastructure usually remain the responsibility of the developer, total costs usually allow for affordable rents for park owned homes, new homes can be sold at affordable prices, residents have pride of ownership with their own outdoor space, shorter development time, less environmental impact.
There was a brief question and answer period. (See the recorded presentation on Newburynh.org)
Ms. Freeman thanked the panelists and consultant for their time and presentations. She also thanked everyone for attending.
1. Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at 8:14 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Donna Long