The Peterborough Planning Board and the Zoning Board of Adjustment voted to postpone work on a proposed inclusionary housing ordinance after a two-hour joint workshop between both boards Monday night.
“The meeting with the ZBA was to get their input on changing the current workforce housing ordinance to a broader inclusionary measure of affordable housing,” Planning Board Chair Carl Staley said Wednesday.
In May, Peterborough voters passed Amendment 2, which proposed rescinding the current elderly housing ordinance to close a loophole enabling dense development anywhere in Peterborough. The amendment passed with 579 votes in support, 190 votes against. In summer 2023, a new state law gave developers to right to build projects including workforce housing at the same density rate as local elderly housing ordinances.
According to Danica Melone, Peterborough’s director of planning and building, the initial draft of the inclusionary housing ordinance was written by Planning Board member Stephanie Hurley, who collaborated with Melone and Planning Board Chair Carl Staley.
“The purpose of inclusionary housing is to have an ordinance which provides realistic opportunity and incentive for different forms of affordable housing, such as low-income, moderate-income and workforce,” Melone stated Tuesday. “The main takeaway from last night’s meeting was that the ordinance still needs work, that many other sections of the zoning would also require tweaking and that the board needs to go through a more-robust public engagement process to improve support for the ordinance.”
New Hampshire’s lack of affordable and workforce housing has been widely cited as a hindrance to economic growth and to the region’s ability to attract and retain young people. At Monday night’s meeting, Melone recommended that the Planning Board hold off on completing work on the ordinance until 2025, to which the board agreed.
“The Master Plan Steering Committee will be reconvening next year, and we can tie the public engagement for the master plan together with zoning work,” Melone said.
According to Melone, the town will be reviewing a zoning proposal from the Conservation Commission in the future, as well as possibly reopening discussion on rezoning the Commercial District lots to Village Commercial District.
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