Commission reviews Chapter 8 on housing; staff says plan addresses AFFH

The commission reviewed draft Chapter 8 — housing and community design — of the Hampstead comprehensive plan on March 27. Staff said revisions address Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) and add language to promote actions "to take meaningful steps to overcome patterns of segregation" and to support a healthier, fairer housing market.

Jim said the draft includes local housing statistics: "If you break it down by their description of low income housing, 32.3 of all our households fit into that description," and an additional "28.1% of all households qualify as workforce housing." He described strategies the plan advances to increase affordable housing, such as repurposing existing buildings for apartments or senior housing units and encouraging mixed housing types in new subdivisions. He also noted that the town council recently passed a mixed-use ordinance allowing residential uses in the local business district, which could add upper-level apartments along Main Street.

Commissioners said they had minor grammatical or stylistic edits; staff said they would incorporate the changes and continue work on the remaining chapters, including demographics and municipal growth. The draft chapter will stay in staff review and is expected to be completed before the plan goes to the town council for their review.