A proposed 34-unit complex on a three-acre parcel on Union Street, near Briggs Road in the West Peterborough District, would add seven units of workforce housing.
“Workforce housing” is defined as primary year-round residences near places of employment that are affordable for a renter family of three making 60 percent of area median income and for owner families of four making 100 percent of area median income. No more than 30 percent of income should be spent on housing – rent plus utilities, or mortgage principal and interest, taxes and insurance.
According to the New Hampshire Department of Employment Security, the median family income in Peterborough is $115,711, and the median household income is $87,557. The median household income for Hillsborough County from 2016 to 2020 was $82,099, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
A 2021 New Hampshire Housing Residential Rental Cost Survey found the median gross rent for a two-bedroom unit was $1,498, up 6 percent over last year (and up 7 percent for all units). Rents statewide have increased in each of the past eight years and the vacancy rate was less than 1 percent. In comparison, both the U.S. and Northeast vacancy rates are at 6.8 percent.
The Peterborough Planning Board held a hearing on the proposal Monday night, and after nearly 90 minutes of discussion in a packed room, board members decided to delay a decision on the proposal until their next meeting in September.
Fieldstone Land Use Consultants Chief Engineer Chad Branon presented the plan for Halliday Properties, LLC, owned by Sharon resident Sadie Halliday. The plan includes a row of 20 units and two seven-unit structures that would sit across the road. The proposal also includes residential parking and two large parking lots to the northeast and southwest of the property.
“We were hopeful we would have received a little more welcome to the project at the last meeting,” he said, referring to revisions to the plan that were being presented. “We took a lot of feedback and made revisions which includes workforce housing.”
Ivy Vann, who announced her resignation from the Planning Board before the meeting began, said in an interview she the project is appropriate for the location.
“That’s what the zoning code in West Peterborough is supposed to do,” she said, referring to the density that is required for workforce housing. “If we are to remain a vital, healthy community, we have to allow for an increase in density.”
Vann said she was delighted that the majority of residents who spoke at the meeting, even those who live nearby, expressed support for the project.
“People are beginning to understand you don’t get more housing by avoiding workforce housing,” she said. “Not everyone wants a single-family home. It’s a question of choice.”
Branon emphasized that to have a successful workforce housing project, density must be discussed.
“You will never have workforce housing if you don’t have density, you won’t, because the project has to offset the workforce housing component,” he said. “Developers I’m working with are building them for a loss. This town will never have a successful workforce housing project unless you contemplate density.”
Planning Board member Andrew Dunbar expressed concern during a back-and-forth with Town Planner Danica Melone, asking whether the proposed workforce housing would have an impact on the shortage of affordable housing in the state. He said he didn’t believe the seven-unit complex would “make or break” workforce housing.
“There’s always going to be more people who want to live here, and you’re always going to need housing. Seven units isn’t going to solve that,” he said, adding that he is concerned about overcrowding on the lot.
Planning Board member Sara Steinberg Heller expressed frustration with Dunbar’s assessment.
“I literally do not know what to say—and I’m trying to stay calm— when you say, my fellow board member, that those seven apartments won’t make a difference. That will make a difference for seven families or couples or individuals and for one of us to get up and say that wont make a difference … it is insulting to me and my fellow board members and to the people who are here to speak,” she said. “I understand you don’t think it’s important. I just feel so personally insulted right now.”
Melone added later in an interview that the lack of housing has impacted Peterborough’s workforce across all income levels.
“In fact, the need has affected our local economy so much so that we have a handful of Peterborough businesses who are working on developing housing on their own. Some have already purchased the land, while others are still exploring their options for available space. There are many other benefits, but I think adding units to our housing stock, even 34, will help to alleviate the strain.”
Vann said the issue of people wanting workforce housing, “but just not now” is one she hears everywhere she goes.
“The problem everywhere is that planning and zoning in the United States for the last 75 years has made it hard to build anything but single-family housing on big lots,” she said.
Halliday said the biggest thing she has seen in comments from the community is that the community needs workforce housing.
“We have an opportunity to do something here,” she said. “I know that people are struggling with this and I understand and respect that but at the same time we have to start to take action to find housing for people.”
Several members of the public expressed concerns about the effect more housing could have on traffic in the area.
Laurel Boyd, who lives on Union Street, said she is “100 percent” in favor of workforce housing, and would like it all to be designated as such, but her concern was with more vehicle congestion through nearby streets, which she believes presents a danger to children playing outside. She suggested the town look into lowering the speed limits, which are often not obeyed, in the area.
Fieldstone Land Consulting will be returning to the Planning Board’s next meeting, scheduled for Sept. 12, with an updated site plan that will address the board’s requirements regarding a 30-foot vegetated buffer as required under West Peterborough District regulations.