Manchester Passes Long-Awaited Zoning Overhaul Aimed At Housing Affordability

By Damien Fisher, NH Journal

Years of work paid off this week when Manchester’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen (BMA) passed a rewrite of city zoning ordinances that supporters say will position the city for housing and economic growth.

Mayor Jay Ruais said the new rules will make it easier to build homes in Manchester, a major need for many residents.

“We must drive down the cost of housing and make Manchester more affordable. This zoning rewrite is one of the most important steps we can take to secure Manchester’s future,” Ruais said. “By modernizing our land-use code, we are unlocking new opportunities for housing, promoting responsible growth, and making it easier for residents and businesses to invest in our city.”

The zoning changes have been in the works since 2021, when the city updated its Master Plan for the first time since 2009. The Master Plan serves as a guide for city planners and leaders, setting long-term development goals for the community.

“This zoning rewrite is the product of the most comprehensive public engagement the City of Manchester has ever done for a zoning ordinance,” said Jeff Belanger, director of the Manchester Planning and Community Development Department. “From the beginning, our goal has always been to understand what the people of Manchester want for the future of their city and to deliver that to them.”

Residents provided input through community meetings, surveys, and written comments, Belanger said. Every comment helped city leaders better understand what residents want from their city, he added. After meetings attended by more than 1,000 community members, Belanger and his team followed up with a survey that generated 1,500 responses.

Opponents of the new, more development-friendly rules raised concerns about how the changes could affect neighborhood character and city services. At a special meeting of the BMA last month, Ward 6 Alderman Crissy Kantor worried that allowing greater density could strain infrastructure, increase traffic, or alter long-established residential areas.

Other residents have questioned whether the rewrite will actually lead to meaningful increases in affordable housing or simply make development easier without guarantees.

There has also been debate over the scope of the changes and the pace of the process, with critics saying the scale of the rewrite makes it difficult for residents to fully understand its long-term impacts.

“I want to thank everyone who participated in the public engagement, whether they came to a community meeting, filled out a survey, or submitted a comment,” Belanger said. “We heard you. The rewrite is a reflection of what you said, and this process could not have succeeded without you.”

But supporters of the zoning update echoed the message of businesses across the state: The housing shortage must be addressed, and municipal governments need to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

One of the top concerns of Granite State employers is the lack of workforce housing, and at a business roundtable hosted by Americans For Prosperty – New Hampshire earlier this month, business owners expressed frustration over how difficult it is to work with local zoning boards across the state.

“The planning boards and zoning boards are completely out of control with the regulations and their asks,” said Phil Lambert of Pelcon General Contractors. He said it was time for the state to step in an limit the authority of local towns to block new housing.

“I don’t think we need to go to huge extremes on that, but we certainly cannot let the towns stymie growth,” Lambert added.

There are efforts in Concord to do just that. Ironically. Manchester’s decision to ease restrictions may help supporters of local control hold off new state actions.

Ruais said the work of Belanger, senior planner Kristin Bixby, and the entire Planning and Community Development Department will help Manchester succeed and its residents prosper.

Updating the city’s land-use regulations to make them clearer and more user-friendly was one of the top recommendations in the Master Plan. The rewrite is anchored by a new Manchester Land Use Code that brings together the zoning ordinance, subdivision regulations, and site plan regulations into a single, streamlined document. The rules are intended to be easier to understand and apply, reduce red tape, and create more opportunities for development, housing, and business investment.

On background, one supporter of the new rules reached into recent political history to describe the change.

“In the words of our former vice president, ‘It’s a BFD!’”

This story was originally published by the NH Journal, an online news publication dedicated to providing fair, unbiased reporting on, and analysis of, political news of interest to New Hampshire. For more stories from the NH Journal, visit NHJournal.com.