Members of the Conservation Commission, Planning Board and residents discuss open space development zoning during a forum on Thursday in Jaffrey. (Courtesy photo)
Jaffrey is taking a look at its current open space development ordinance and how to improve it while meeting both conservation and housing goals for the town.
On Thursday, the town, in combination with Resilience Planning & Design, held a community workshop focused on an update to the town’s open space development ordinance. Three main topics were under discussion: whether the town should continue to mandate an open space development plan for large parcels, what the minimum open space should be in those developments and what could trigger potential additional development density.
As part of the forum, the Conservation Commission discussed another ongoing project – a natural resources inventory. Conservation Commission Chair Tom Ahlborn-Hsu said that inventory is nearing completion, and will be “an enormously useful tool” for the town’s land-use boards. The interactive map will allow anyone to click on individual properties and see what resource impacts there are on the property, including aquifers and wetlands, things that Ahlborn-Hsu said were of high interest to the town when it came to conservation.
Steve Whitman, founder of Resilience Planning & Design said that while Jaffrey has more housing diversity than some of its neighbors, there is still a high need for housing of various types for people.
“They need different sizes, at different price points. If having diversity of housing and conservation are priorities for the town, as the master plan states, than the open space statute is probably worth revising,” Whitman said.
Current Jaffrey zoning allows open space development plans, which allow denser development and flexibility to encourage housing in clusters on large parcels, thereby conserving a portion of the land in permanent preservation. The number of units allowed is based on the total land, minus unbuildable land such as wetland or steep slopes, on the plot. There is a 40% minimum open space on these developments, but developers can get greater density if they achieve certain goals. Greater percentage of open space, connecting open space with other existing open space or easements, providing workforce or senior housing all can increase density, up to a total of a 25% bonus.
Residents were split into small groups to discuss the issues, including whether the density percentage was too high and if lowering it, but keeping density bonuses for going beyond the minimum, might be a compromise.
Resilience Planning & Design will help collate the feedback so that the town’s Housing Opportunity Program Town Committee, made up of representatives from the Planning Board, Economic Development Council and the Conservation Commission, can draft potential changes to the open space development ordinance. Any zoning changes would have to be adopted by a majority ballot vote from the public.
