City residents support zoning changes to promote affordable housing, walkable neighborhoods

Yahoo

05-03-2025

Mar. 4—Data released this week by the UNH Cooperative Extension detailing feedback for proposed zoning ordinance changes in Manchester shows support in all 12 wards for affordable housing and walkable neighborhoods.
The report is the second half of a Community Engagement Report on zoning update efforts. The first half of the report, released in December by the UNH Survey Center, showed 77% of city residents saying more housing is needed.
City officials say the zoning update initiative looks to modernize land use regulations, streamline development and support community priorities like housing, economic growth, and sustainability.
"This report underscores the community's vision for a more vibrant, inclusive, and sustainable Manchester," city Planning Board Chairman Bryce Kaw-uh said in a statement. "The input gathered will be instrumental in shaping zoning policies that align with residents' needs and aspirations."
Manchester is undergoing a comprehensive review of the city's land use ordinances for the first time in more than two decades. In June, the city published a draft with updates to the land use code and a schedule for outreach efforts, including public meetings and a city-wide survey.
The report is based on outreach efforts including community meetings, surveys and stakeholder discussions. Key findings reveal that Manchester residents overwhelmingly support zoning changes that promote affordable housing, walkable neighborhoods and mixed-use development.
Beginning in July of 2024 and continuing for more than 60 days, city planning staff — assisted by UNH Extension — took feedback from Manchester residents and stakeholders through a series of 12 two-hour work sessions. More than 90 residents, on average, attended each meeting.
UNH Extension received about 1,100 open-ended comments from work session participants. Work sessions were held in each ward and were open to anyone who wanted to attend regardless of residency — though UNH Extension said the majority of participants were Manchester residents.
Housing affordability was identified in all of the wards as a critical issue. A review of the comments shows there is significant support for granting more flexibility for residential uses in order to enable more residential developments and increase the city's number and range of housing opportunities.
Strategies supported include lowering the minimum dimensions for residential lots and reducing the minimum floor area required per residential unit.
Participants preferred to see more housing in the form of accessory dwelling units, duplexes and triplexes, upper-story residential over existing buildings with street-level commercial, and smaller single-family homes.
Several comments voiced the need for more apartment buildings, but some felt strongly about limiting multi-family buildings to existing multi-family districts and downtown.
There was support for increasing the city's walkability options. Comments supported allowing limited neighborhood businesses in proximity to residences, safe sidewalks, traffic-calming devices and pedestrian-scale streetscaping.
Participants showed strong support for making sure future development is compatible with the character of existing neighborhoods. Residents supported design standards and more code enforcement as ways to preserve and enhance the quality and character of the city's neighborhoods.
When considering new development, residents shared concerns over the city's capacity to accommodate the increased demand on services, including water, sewer, police, first responders and teachers.
Residents expressed concern about the costs required to mitigate impacts from new growth, and wanted assurances the cost of living for existing residents would not increase in order to pay for the public improvements and services sought by new developments.
There were also comments in support of streamlining the development review process, particularly for changes that would improve predictability, shorten review timeframes, and reduce the need to go through the variance process.
When asked what kinds of development they would like to see in Manchester, respondents most often mentioned small retail and service, small residential, restaurants and entertainment.
Most felt that duplexes, apartment houses, and townhouses fit very or somewhat well in their local area, but relatively few feel that large, multifamily apartments or stacked flats fit well. Clear majorities feel it is important to preserve the natural areas and historic charms of Manchester.