Revision: Dec. 10, 2009, midnight
HB 1395 – AS INTRODUCED
2010 SESSION
03/01
HOUSE BILL 1395
AN ACT relative to workforce housing.
SPONSORS: Rep. Hess, Merr 9; Rep. Dokmo, Hills 6; Rep. Leishman, Hills 3
COMMITTEE: Municipal and County Government
This bill makes various changes to the workforce housing requirements.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
10-2008
03/01
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Ten
AN ACT relative to workforce housing.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Multifamily Housing. Amend RSA 674:58, II to read as follows:
II. “[Multi-family] Multifamily housing” for the purpose of workforce housing developments, means a building or structure containing [5] 3 or more dwelling units, each designed for occupancy by an individual household.
2 Workforce Housing. Amend RSA 674:58, IV to read as follows:
IV. “Workforce housing” means housing which is intended for sale and which is affordable to a household with an income of no more than 100 percent of the median income for a 4-person household for the metropolitan area or county in which the housing is located as published annually by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. “Workforce housing” also means rental housing which is affordable to a household with an income of no more than 60 percent of the median income for a 3-person household for the metropolitan area or county in which the housing is located as published annually by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. [Housing developments that exclude minor children from more than 20 percent of the units, or in which more than 50 percent of the dwelling units have fewer than two bedrooms, shall not constitute workforce housing for the purposes of this subdivision.]
3 Workforce Housing Opportunities. Amend RSA 674:59, I to read as follows:
I. In every municipality that exercises the power to adopt land use ordinances and regulations, such ordinances and regulations shall provide reasonable and realistic opportunities for the development of workforce housing, including rental [multi-family] multifamily housing. In order to provide such opportunities, lot size and overall density requirements for workforce housing shall be reasonable. A municipality that adopts land use ordinances and regulations shall allow workforce housing to be located in [a majority] some, but not necessarily all, of the land area that is zoned to permit residential uses within the municipality. Such a municipality shall have the discretion to determine what land areas are appropriate to meet this obligation. This obligation may be satisfied by the adoption of inclusionary zoning as defined in RSA 674:21, IV(a). This paragraph shall not be construed to require a municipality to allow for the development of multifamily housing in a majority of its land zoned to permit residential uses.
4 New Paragraph; Procedure; Rental Housing. Amend RSA 674:60 by inserting after paragraph III the following new paragraph:
IV. A municipality may require that an applicant record restrictive covenants acceptable to the land use board that the workforce housing may not be rented to or occupied by any household whose income is greater than that specified in RSA 674:58, IV. The covenant shall be for the term specified in the regulations of the land use board, which shall not exceed 20 years. The municipality may adopt regulations to insure compliance with the covenants, which regulations may include requirements for the monitoring of the project by the municipality or by a suitable third party agency qualified to carry out such requirements, including but not limited to requiring the production of annual income verification for renters and non-owner occupiers.
5 Repeal. RSA 674:61, II, relative to hearings on workforce housing appeals, is repealed.
6 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2011.