Residents asked the Temple Planning Board to proceed with extreme caution before pursuing any measures aimed at improving access to affordable housing at a public forum on Wednesday evening.
The forum was scheduled as an opportunity for the public to weigh in on several measures the Planning Board put forth, aimed at increasing the availability of affordable housing in town, according to Planning Board Chair Allan Pickman.
Many of the 33 residents in attendance expressed skepticism about the proposed methods, or indeed whether the town should pursue the issue at all. Residents also brought forward concerns and alternate suggestions for improving affordable housing opportunities.
The conversation about affordable housing in town initially grew from a discussion on declining enrollment at Temple Elementary School, Pickman said. Some speakers voiced the hope that affordable housing could boost school enrollment by attracting young families, but several residents took issue with the concept. One attendee noted that the construction of new houses doesn’t correlate as favorably with bumps in youth populations as it did in years past.
“The school shouldn’t be on the table, that’s just pulling at heartstrings,” Joel Sainsbury said.
Some residents expressed disinterest in affordable housing, regardless of its impact on school enrollment. When the entire state is struggling to provide affordable housing, “why do we have to be that town?” Sainsbury asked.
“Is Temple required to do this?” Christine Merrill asked, citing that she doesn’t see any benefit as a resident.
Selectman Bill Ezell reminded the group that Temple didn’t have to do anything about affordable housing. “We are just bringing up ideas,” he said, because, given the state legislature’s recent interest in the subject, “we think its going to become important at some point.”
Corianne Malcolmson said she felt “threatened” by the idea of affordable housing in the town, citing high crime rates in nearby subsidized housing areas.
“I feel threatened that my family is going to be burglarized,” Malcolmson said. “I think it’s great that we have no affordable housing in the town.”
Temple is unsuitable for low-income residents who might not have cars, Malcolmson said, or Millennials interested in walkable communities. “This isn’t the town to do it in, it’s too small.”
“A lot of people get affordable and subsidized housing mixed up,” Matt Cabana said. “These are people who are working,” he said of affordable housing arrangements.
“I am that person, that low income person who wants to live here,” Adrienne Krulis said, and that like many in her generation, she and her husband struggle with low income work and student debt. Despite this, she said she’s “not going to go around committing crimes” as a civic-minded, college educated, lifelong resident of town.
“I’d love to be able to afford to continue to live here,” she said, and that her childhood friends have expressed interest in returning to town to raise families, if they could afford to.
Other residents urged the Planning Board to wait for assistance from the state, following Gov. Sununu’s recommendations and plan to address New Hampshire’s housing shortage, as unveiled at the end of October. The plan includes improving educational opportunities for local planning boards as well as various incentives for affordable housing initiatives.
Residents discussed the pros and cons of the Planning Board’s three proposed changes to zoning code, which included allowing the construction of duplexes, providing a “density bonus” that would allow developers to build more houses if they were all below a certain size and clustered together, and allowing gravel roads on certain developments. Pickman and Board Member Bruce Kullgren Jr. spoke on the potential ways the proposals could save on the cost of new development.
One fallacy, according to Matt Cabana, is that new development can’t be sold at an “affordable” cost with the current cost of materials and labor.
“Affordable housing, right now, is rentals,” he said.
Residents also brought up the merits of accessory dwelling units, which are allowed in Temple but not widely promoted. Others pointed to innovative concepts being implemented in other areas.
Christine Robidoux suggested the Board look into using Innovative Land Use Controls, which, she said, allow the town to say “We want this type of development, and we want it here,” in a specific overlay district. Krulis suggested the Board look into the example of the Jacobson Farm “agrihood” in Amherst, which sought to provide affordable housing as well as support a working farm and a rural aesthetic.
Robidoux, who is also on the Temple Community Planning Committee, acknowledged that many of the barriers to affordable housing extend beyond the scope of what a planning board is authorized to do. She cited living wages as one barrier the town is currently facing.
“Obviously, most of the people here are skeptical” about the initial proposals, Pickman said, when asked to summarize his impressions at the end of the meeting.
Sunnie Contois suggested that there could have been a less negative reaction if the meeting had been properly advertised and the Board had proved they’d “done their homework”, including taking advantage of the educational opportunities available to planning boards statewide.
The Planning Board will discuss its conclusions from the meeting at their next meeting on Dec. 18 at 7 p.m., but warned that public comment would be limited.