Meeting Notes

NOTES

Housing Committee Meeting

Wednesday, November 18, 2020

Zoom Meeting at 7:00 PM

Committee Members Attending:

Barbara Freeman (Chair), Richard Wright, Christopher Hernick, Tom Krebs, Matt Mynczywor, Christopher Millette, Denise Mitchell, Alicia Morse, Judy Hale, Stephanie Spaulding, and Kristen Schultz.

Donna Long, Recording Secretary

Public Attending

Bruce Healey, Planning Board Chair

Also Attending

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

The meeting convened at 7:04 p.m.

1. Approval of Meeting Notes from 10/23/20

2. Introduction of Steve Whitman

Ms. Freeman introduced consultant Steve Whitman of RPD and read a description of his background and experience with helping communities plan.

3. Review the Value Statement for Our Committee

Ms. Freeman mentioned she included the value statement in the agenda for the committee so they will have it for their use, if needed.

4. Feedback from Committee Members Regarding MaterialsSent Out

Ms. Freeman asked everyone if they reviewed the material emailed. Those materials included: Key Housing Related Findings for Newbury, N.H.; the Town of Newbury, N.H. Demographic and Housing Profile and the map of Developable land in Newbury N.H. (Attached)  She said she thought all of the material were really readable and easy to understand and thanked Steve.

Mr. Whitman referred to the document "Key Housing Related Findings for Newbury, NH" as the basic information needed to begin thinking about housing in town. 

A committee member asked who was included in the survey.  Mr. Whitman explained that the demographics are from the US Census so the demographics include anyone that claims the town of Newbury, N.H. is their residence.

Discussion took place about how the income in town has gone up. The members also discussed the fact that the median age has increased as well. 

Mr. Whitman said only ½ of the housing stock in Newbury is year-round.  This and rent occupancy might have changed since March when the COVID pandemic started.  There is no way of telling.

There was some discussion about the arrival of broadband being brought to town might have affected the demographics. It was reported that about 50% of the town currently has fiber.

Mr. Whitman said that it is important to understand the Newbury community. Once that information is established and the committee agrees on the direction that they want to take regarding who should be provided housing opportunities in the community, the committee can look at other NH communities and what they are doing to address the housing shortage.  In the next meeting Steve will be showing some of those options.

5. Housing Needs Assessment

Mr. Whitman said the committee is already creating a housing need assessment by getting a sense to who is here now, who is left out and who else we would like to see in this community. He said the Newbury Master Plan and the updated material the RPD circulated for this meeting is there to give the committee base information. He said this will allow us to identify and document the needs in Newbury. 

Steve noted that the State of NH expects that each community/town will contribute to providing diverse housingwhatever their population is.  He mentioned that if anyone on the committee would like additional information on demographics and housing needs in the surrounding areas including Sullivan County, he could provide that as requested.

It was decided that there is a need for age and income diversity in the town. Younger people are needed to step into key roles in the town, as town residents get older. Also, working people, teachers, builders, medical workers, etc. need housing that they can afford.  It was also decided that housing opportunities should include smaller housing units, sheltered housing (people served would be anyone that needs daily living support) and perhaps seasonal workers' housing.

The committee decided that they would like additional information on what employers are in town (providing work in Newbury), how many people they employ and where their workers live now.  Would they live in Newbury if they could?  Is it difficult to get workers because there is no place for them to live?  The following committee members volunteered to speak to these business owners:

- Mount Sunapee – Denise Mitchell

- Yacht Club – Chris Millette

- Baker hill Golf Course – Alicia Morse

- Mountain Edge Resort & Best Western Hotel – Matt Mynczywor

- The Town of Newbury and contracting/landscape businesses- Barbara Freeman

6. Review Newbury Zoning Ordinances

Ms. Freeman asked if anyone had anything they would like to discuss regarding the zoning ordinances. She noted that natural resources in Newbury are well protected by the regulations but that as they stand the ordinances and subdivision regulations are not conducive to housing development because they require a lot of land and land is expensive.  The committee can look at fine-tuning the ordinances so that certain areas of the town are zoned differently to allow some of the housing types that we have been talking about.

There was some discussion regarding the definitions of single family and multi-family housing in the town ordinances and they are not consistent.  Ms. Freeman suggested that we all keep track of inconsistencies and other small "tweaks" that we can correct as we go along. Mr. Whitman said definitions are very important when describing housing units. 

7. December 16, 2020 Meeting

Mr. Whitman said we will be going through housing solutions and examples that other communities have used. He asked the committee members to email him if they want to see any specific examples. Ms. Freeman said she would like to look at community town owned or privately owned houses that can be turned into multi-family housing. Mr. Healey said he would like to look into cluster development and maybe the town can be more flexible or inclusive with the regulations pertaining to cluster housing.  Ms. Freeman also requested that Mr. Whitman bring examples of Planned Unit Development (PUD) that includes multiple uses.

Mr. Whitman suggested that the December agenda should include a brainstorm session on what our plans would be for outreach to the town so that we can explain the committee's work and progress.

8. Future Meetings

Ms. Freeman noted that she had a request from the Planning Board Advisor, Peter Stanley, to join our future meetings. The group agreed that he should join. Ms. Freeman also mentioned that she would be changing the day of the meetings in order to accommodate his schedule and to stay tuned.

9. Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 8:24 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Donna Long 

Recording Secretary