SB95: relative to the development of workforce housing within municipalities.

SB 95-FN-LOCAL - AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE

03/27/03 0935s

04/10/03 1121s

2003 SESSION

03-1058

06/09

SENATE BILL 95-FN-LOCAL

AN ACT relative to the development of workforce housing within municipalities.

SPONSORS: Sen. Larsen, Dist 15; Sen. Gatsas, Dist 16; Sen. Cohen, Dist 24; Sen. Foster, Dist 13; Sen. Gallus, Dist 1; Rep. Almy, Graf 18; Rep. Spiess, Hills 47; Rep. Konys, Hills 65; Rep. Craig, Hills 50; Rep. J. Gilbert, Rock 83

COMMITTEE: Executive Departments and Administration

ANALYSIS

This bill requires municipal land use ordinances to provide for the creation of workforce housing and provides an expedited appeal for projects that are denied. It also requires the office of state planning and regional planning commissions to provide certain technical assistance.

This bill is a request of the commission established by 2001, 262.

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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

03/27/03 0935s

04/10/03 1121s

03-1058

06/09

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Three

AN ACT relative to the development of workforce housing within municipalities.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 New Chapter; Workforce Housing. Amend RSA by inserting after chapter 674 the following new chapter:

CHAPTER 674-A

WORKFORCE HOUSING

674-A:1 Definitions. In this chapter:

I. "Accessory apartment" means a separate dwelling unit designed for occupancy by no more than 2 people created largely within an existing single family home, which does not increase the overall size of the structure by more than 33 percent.

II. "Multi-family housing" means a building or structure containing 3 or more dwelling units, each designed for occupancy by an individual household.

III. "Municipal land use ordinances" means zoning, subdivision, site plan review, growth management, impact fee, and other such municipal ordinances and by-laws.

IV. "Realistic opportunities for the development of workforce housing" means opportunities to develop economically viable workforce housing within the framework of the municipality's land use ordinances. The collective impact of all such ordinances on a proposal for the development of workforce housing shall be considered in determining whether opportunities for the development of workforce housing are realistic.

V. "Reasonable opportunities for the development of workforce housing" means a sufficient amount of vacant, developable land on which workforce housing is permitted; or in municipalities which are largely built up, a sufficient area that is reasonably available for lawful development or redevelopment as workforce housing.

VI. "Workforce housing" means housing which is affordable to a household with income of 80 percent or less of the median income of the metropolitan area or county in which the housing is located, adjusted for the number of persons in the household, as published annually by the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in the Federal Register. 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 2 bedrooms, shall not constitute workforce housing for the purposes of this chapter. For the purpose of this chapter, the following types of housing shall be considered workforce housing:

(a) Owner-occupied housing (including a condominium unit):

(1) Which is initially purchased by a family earning no more than 80 percent of the median income for a family of 4 for the county or metropolitan area, as published by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development from time-to-time, where the total cost of mortgage principal and interest, property taxes, association fees, and homeowner's insurance does not exceed 33 percent of the maximum allowed income of the purchaser. Calculation of housing costs shall be based on current taxes, a 30-year fixed rate mortgage, a 5 percent down payment, and prevailing mortgage rates within the area.

(2) For which there are deed restrictions or some other legally enforceable mechanism requiring that the home be sold to a family earning no more than 80 percent of median income as set forth in subparagraph (1) for a period of not less than 15 years; or for which there is an equity-sharing arrangement by which a homeowner who sells the premises less than 15 years after purchasing it, contributes a share of the equity in said home to a non-profit workforce housing development organization, in accordance with written standards promulgated by the New Hampshire housing finance authority.

(b) Any housing subsidized by the state or federal government under any program to assist the creation of rental units in which all of the units are affordable to families earning 80 percent or less of median family income, as defined in the state or federal subsidy program. In order to qualify as workforce housing under this subparagraph, the developer must make a binding commitment that such units will remain affordable for not fewer than 30 years.

(c) Any subsidized or non-subsidized rental housing project in which the owner makes a legally-binding commitment for at least 20 years to maintain the rent in at least 25 percent of the dwelling units at no more than 30 percent of the income of a family earning 60 percent or less of the median income adjusted for family size for the county or metropolitan area in which the dwelling unit is located, as determined annually by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

(d) Manufactured housing, as defined in RSA 674:31, which is placed in a manufactured housing park, as defined in RSA 205-A:1, in which the park owner makes a legally binding commitment for at least 20 years, that for at least 25 percent of the dwelling units that the lot rent plus the mortgage principal and interest will not exceed 30 percent of the income of a family of 4 earning 80 percent of median family income for the county or metropolitan area in which the housing is located, as determined annually by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Calculation of housing costs shall be based on a 20-year fixed rate mortgage, 20 percent down payment, and prevailing mortgage rates for manufactured housing within the area.

(e) Accessory apartments.

674-A:2 Municipal Workforce Housing Obligation.

I. Municipal land use ordinances shall afford reasonable and realistic opportunities for the siting of workforce housing including multifamily workforce housing, and a municipality shall not exclude workforce housing completely from the municipality by regulation, zoning ordinance, or by any other police power. A municipality which adopts land use control measures shall allow, in its sole discretion, workforce housing to be located in most, but not necessarily all, land areas in districts zoned to permit residential uses or districts zoned to permit mixed uses within the municipality. In order to provide such realistic opportunities, lot size and overall density requirements for workforce housing shall be reasonable.

II. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph I, no municipality in which the equalized value per student is in the lowest 25 percent of the municipalities in the state shall be subject to an obligation to provide reasonable opportunities for the creation of workforce housing. The determination as to which municipalities are in the lowest 25 percent of the state in equalized value per student shall be made on an annual basis by the department of education.

674-A:3 Appeal of Local Decisions.

I. Any person whose application to develop workforce housing, as defined in this chapter, is denied or is approved with conditions or restrictions which have a substantial adverse impact on the viability of the proposed workforce housing development may bring an action in the superior court to obtain permission to develop the proposed workforce housing. The petition to the court shall set forth how the denial is due to the municipality's failure to comply with the municipal workforce housing requirements of RSA 674-A:2 or how the conditions or restrictions of approval have a substantial adverse impact on the viability of the proposal.

II. Except as provided in this section, the provisions of RSA 677 shall apply to appeals filed under this chapter.

III. A hearing on the merits shall be held within 6 months of the date on which the action was filed unless counsel for the parties agree to a later date, or the court so orders for good cause.

IV.(a) The court shall grant judgment for the plaintiff and the municipality shall be ordered to issue the necessary permits to enable the plaintiff's project to proceed, notwithstanding the non-compliance of the proposed project with any municipal land use ordinance, if the plaintiff establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that:

(1) He or she has applied in good faith for approval of a proposal to create workforce housing, and that such application has been denied, or approved with conditions or restrictions that have a substantial adverse impact on the viability of the proposal;

(2) The land use regulations of the municipality fail to comply with the requirements of RSA 674-A:2;

(3) The proposed housing complies with the statewide building code, set forth in RSA 155-A:1, IV and RSA 155-A:2, II; and

(4) The proposed development would not increase the number of year-round dwelling units in the municipality by more than 40 in a municipality with fewer than 2,000 year-round dwelling units at the time the proposal is submitted to the planning board, or more than 2 percent in all other municipalities;

(5) The proposed development would be located in an area that permits residential uses; and

(6) The proposed development is not located on property that has been designated by the state or federal government or the municipality for historic preservation or environmental protection,

(b) Unless the municipality establishes that:

(1) The proposed project fails to comply with standards that are necessary to adequately provide for:

(A) water supply;

(B) sewage disposal and ground water protection;

(C) wetlands protection;

(D) roads and traffic safety;

(E) fire and life safety protection; and

(F) buffering of architecturally inconsistent development.

(2) The municipality's decision rejecting or modifying plaintiff's proposal is necessary to protect other substantial public interests in health or safety and that the public interests clearly outweigh the need for the workforce housing project;

674-A:4 Appeals. An appeal of superior court orders issued under RSA 674-A:3 shall be to the supreme court under the rules of said court.

3 Regional Planning Commissions; General Powers and Duties. RSA 36:47, II is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:

II. For the purpose of assisting municipalities in complying with RSA 674:2, III(l), each regional planning commission shall compile a regional housing needs assessment, which shall include an assessment of the regional need for housing for persons and families of all levels of income. The regional housing needs assessment shall be updated every 5 years and made available to all municipalities in the planning region. The regional housing needs assessment shall include an assessment of the regional need for workforce housing, as defined in RSA 674-A:1, VI, which shall be developed in accordance with a methodology developed by the office of state planning in consultation with the New Hampshire housing finance authority.

II-a. Subject to available funding, each regional planning commission shall review the local land use regulations of any municipality in its region within 6 months of receiving a written request from the planning board, selectmen, or city council and make suggestions concerning the exclusionary effects of the ordinances and the ordinances' compliance with the municipality's obligation under RSA 674-A:2. As part of such review the regional planning commissioner shall make recommendations concerning ways in which the ordinances could be changed to bring the municipality into compliance.

4 Innovative Land Use Controls; Inclusionary Zoning; Workforce Units Required. Amend RSA 674:21, IV(a) to read as follows:

(a) "Inclusionary zoning" means land use control regulations which provide a voluntary incentive or benefit to a property owner in order to induce the property owner to produce housing units which are affordable to persons or families of low and moderate income, or which require that workforce housing units be included in any housing development that contains more than a specified number of total dwelling units. Inclusionary zoning includes, but is not limited to, density bonuses, growth control exemptions, and a streamlined application process.

5 New Paragraph; Office of State Planning; Responsibilities for Assistance; Workforce Housing. Amend RSA 4-C:8 by inserting after paragraph IV the following new paragraph.

V. Assist municipalities by:

(a) Making available, upon request from a municipality, data produced or collected by state, local, or federal government agencies in determining its need for workforce housing.

(b) Developing, in conjunction with the New Hampshire housing finance authority, a recommended uniform methodology for the development of the regional housing needs assessment required by RSA 36:47, II.

(c) Providing guidelines for the development of municipal master plans that promote the development of workforce housing.

6 Allocation of Financial Grants. For 3 years, beginning July 1, 2003, priority for financial grants to regional planning commissions made pursuant to RSA 4-C:8, I, shall be given to grant requests which are for the purpose of enhancing a regional planning commission's ability to provide technical assistance to municipalities in meeting their legal obligations to provide realistic and reasonable opportunities for the development of workforce housing.

7 Effective Date.

I. Section 2 of this act shall take effect June 1, 2004.

II. The remainder of this act shall take effect upon its passage.

LBAO

03-1058

Amended 5/14/03

SB 95 FISCAL NOTE

AN ACT relative to the development of workforce housing within municipalities.

FISCAL IMPACT:

The Office of State Planning and New Hampshire Municipal Association state this bill, as amended by the Senate (Senate Amendment #2003-1121s), will have no fiscal impact on state, county, and local revenue or expenditures.

METHODOLOGY:

The Office of State Planning states this bill would have no fiscal impact on state, county, and local governments. The Office states this bill requires Regional Planning Commissions to perform reviews of municipal master plans, subject to available funding. If funding were available, the Office assumes 59 municipalities would request RPC reviews.

The New Hampshire Municipal Association states this bill will have no fiscal impact on local revenue or expenditures.