There’s no place like home

Now, by the time an affordable housing development in Hanover is finished later this year, it will boast 120 new homes for working families in the Upper Valley.

The Gile Hill condominium project, which took more than seven years of work to secure financing and permits, is the largest workforce housing development in the state.

Much of the heavy lifting for the project was done by the Hanover Affordable Housing Commission, a group formed by the town’s board of selectmen after local residents pushed for more affordable housing, said Len Cadwallader, who is a member of the group.

It’s a model that members of a Monadnock Region workforce housing coalition are hoping communities in this region will look to as they try to increase the amount of affordable places for families.

Last week, Heading for Home — a nonprofit collective of individuals, businesses and social services agencies — hosted a forum at Keene State College on municipal housing commissions.

Dozens of people from Antrim, Dublin, Harrisville, Hinsdale, Keene, Peterborough and Swanzey attended the two-hour presentation.

“A lot of planning boards have been worried about the complexity of the affordable housing law,” said Benjamin D. Frost, director of public affairs at the N.H. Housing Finance Authority. “A commission can help with that.”

Nearly six months ago, a state law focused on workforce housing, or residences that people in low- and middle-income brackets can afford, went into effect.

The law, which was passed in 2008, calls for communities to provide a “fair share” of affordable housing for working families. It also allows communities to create housing commissions.

The law was delayed for six months after community officials — especially in small, rural towns that lack infrastructure such as town-operated water and sewer services to support dense development — raised concerns about how to implement it.

While some states, including Connecticut, have passed workforce housing laws that require communities to contain a specific percentage of affordable residences, such as 10 percent, the Granite State’s “fair share” stipulation has left some scratching their heads, said Lisa J. Murphy, senior planner for the Southwest Region Planning Commission, which is part of Heading for Home.

“The main goal of the legislation isn’t necessarily to force communities to build more housing, but rather to encourage zoning ordinances that allow for affordable housing,” Murphy said. “That’s what’s been hard for communities to grasp.”

The aim of the law is to promote balance and diversity in the supply of housing, Frost said.

“High-end housing will take care of itself,” he said. “If you have the means you can get it done.”

Housing commissions, which are established by a board of selectmen or city council or created by residents at town meeting, can be a key tool in establishing housing that working families can afford, said George Reagan, workforce housing project administrator for the N.H. Housing Finance Authority.

Much like municipal conservation commissions or agriculture commissions, the three- to seven-member groups are allowed by state law to manage a fund, acquire property for the town and act as an adviser to planning and zoning boards or master planning committees.

For instance, rural zoning regulations requiring 5-acre lots can hinder measures to keep the cost of housing low.

“Often master plans mention the need for affordable housing, but often there’s a disconnect with site plan and zoning regulations,” Reagan said. “Commissions could look at ways to implement that.”

And even communities that don’t establish formal commissions can work together to look at affordable housing in a regional context, Frost said.

“It’s important to look at housing as a regional issue,” he said. “The need for affordable housing is something that affects communities no matter what their size.”

Casey Farrar can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1435, or cfarrar@keenesentinel.com.