Chesterfield residents attending a meeting on housing in the area discuss a question about the pros and cons of their own homes, now and in the future. They also talked about the demographics of those who were and weren’t represented at the meeting. (Photo by Sophia Keshmiri, Keene Sentinel)
Roughly 50 Chesterfield residents congregated in town hall Wednesday night (Oct. 9) to kick off a series of community conversations about housing.
In small groups, attendees talked about their own living situations, but the state’s housing crisis and affordable options weren’t the focus; not yet at least. Residents are slated to tackle those topics in depth in another meeting.
Communities nationwide have been grappling with similar challenges: housing is too expensive and too scarce. Housing costs — renting and owning — have gone up in recent years. And in Chesterfield, homes are so pricey that most jobs in town don’t pay enough to cover costs, according to a housing needs assessment Ivy Vann conducted for the community.
She was hired by the town to study the housing issue and led Wednesday’s meeting. The town’s housing options comprise mostly single family homes, which tend to be more expensive, one challenge she noted.
“The goal of this meeting is to get people thinking about housing from their own perspective, instead of worrying about other people, what ‘scary person might move to my town,’” Vann said.
The meeting was the first in a series of five, each exploring different topics to help officials in Chesterfield get a sense if, and how, residents want to address housing issues in the town.
The program, and Vann, are being funded by a $53,750 grant from InvestNH, a statewide program run by the N.H. Department of Business and Economic Affairs and N.H. Housing. Vann is an approved consultant with the organization. Other towns in Cheshire County, including Fitzwilliam and Dublin, have also used the grant to host similar conversations.
“What we are hoping is that by having these conversations and talking about other choices, that people can come to see that, for example, allowing a cottage court, which is a group of small houses together on a single lot, would not be a terrible thing,” Vann said.
The next four meetings, which are being held at the Chesterfield Town Hall every other Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. will tackle the housing crisis more directly, with a focus on national housing trends, what terms like “affordable housing” mean, accessory dwelling units and feasible housing solutions for Chesterfield. The next meeting is scheduled for Oct. 23.
Chesterfield Selectboard Chair Fran Shippee said a lack of affordable and senior housing are both challenges in town. Also, developers can be difficult to attract to the area since the town does not have public water or sewer utilities.
“We want to do our part in the solution and do what we can to help the older residents of town maybe find a source for senior housing in Chesterfield,” she said.
“I think that’s a pretty crucial need, and that would empty out some units, some bigger house units for younger people to move into.”
Shippee is also part of the eight-member Housing Working Group, a Chesterfield subcommittee that works to spread the word about housing topics in town. The group helped put on Wednesday’s meeting.
Patricia Paquette, a local real estate agent and longtime resident hopes the program helps.
“I do hope positive change comes from this housing study,” she said in a message to The Sentinel.
Over the course of an hour, residents discussed what brought them to the meeting, the challenges they face and their vision for the community.
A volunteer scribe for each of the eight tables recorded the answers, which Vann will compile into a document that will help Chesterfield officials consider solutions.
Paquette’s table went back and forth when discussing a prompt about who was and wasn’t in the room. Someone brought up that 20- and 30-year-olds were missing from the conversation. Another said that people working two jobs might not have been able to attend.
Two tables back, an attendee mentioned that the meeting lacked racial diversity. At the same table, a woman pointed out that she didn’t think there were immigrants in the room.
One resident said affordable housing isn’t wanted in the town.
At the end of the meeting, Vann took questions and comments from the crowd. Resident Len Perham took the opportunity to share that he didn’t think the addition of accessory dwelling units, one possible solution that has been implemented other places including Keene, is in the best interest of the community.
Accessory dwelling units are smaller residences that homeowners can add to their properties, where allowed by local zoning laws.
“People should come here that want to live here because they have jobs and they make money and they pay some reasonable modicum of taxes,” Perham said. He added that he’s concerned accessory dwelling units would attract residents who “can’t pay their way,” he told The Sentinel after the meeting.
He thinks possible solutions include “working hard to create jobs, to create more industry,” and decreasing the cost of building a house by changing regulations.
“I think housing prices have gone up because a lot of Americans want to come to New Hampshire, because it’s such a great place to live,” Perham said when asked generally about the housing crisis.
Paquette, the real estate agent, noted that housing costs are high everywhere.
“No matter where anybody is house hunting it’s all expensive,” she said.
“… I really would love to see more affordable housing in this town that I love.”
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