MANCHESTER, NH – The Manchester Planning and Community Development Department is seeking to hold community meetings on the proposed zoning ordinance rewrite in each ward of the city and as of Saturday, they’re halfway to that goal.
The sixth meeting was held in Ward 7, a portion of the city focused on Hayward Street and Somerville Street, is comparable to many other wards in the city in that it holds a variety of different zoning uses.
In the eastern half of the ward, residential uses are recommended, although like elsewhere in the city, reduced minimum lot sizes allowing slightly higher density. Additionally, a pair of areas west of Mammoth Road have been converted from single-family high density (R1-B) to duplex (R2) usage. According to Planning and Community Development Director Jeffrey Belanger, this change came due to desire from the public to obtain more housing as well as the fact that there are already many non-conforming duplexes in those areas that were either constructed before existing zoning ordinances or received variances.
In the middle of the ward, there will be a new mixed-use neighborhood (MX-1) zone that would allow “cottage commercial” style businesses such as barber shops, offices and convenience stores or other businesses under 3,000 square feet at corner lots along with residential uses after obtaining a conditional use permit from the Planning Board. A mixed-use general (MX-2) zone will be placed along Beech Street, also allowing the cottage commercial and residential mix, although the maximum number of residential units allowed by right in MX-2 is nine while the maximum number of residential units in MX-1 is four.
The final zones in the eastern part of the ward include a Business Corridor-Neighborhood (BC-1) and Downtown Center (DT-1) zoned area. This area replaces what was called a redevelopment zone, which sought to repurpose former railroad land. Although the redevelopment zone has largely seen new industrial-focused businesses and those existing businesses would be allowed to remain, new industrial uses would not be allowed by right. Instead, the BC-1 seeks to provide higher density commercial and residential uses than the MX-2 district while providing less intensive commercial uses than the Business Corridor-Regional (BC-2) areas in the city such as South Willow Street and Second Street. In the DT-1, which in Ward 7 is focused near the Valley Street Jail, would focus on higher density mixed-use purposes than MX districts with smaller lots than the BC-2 districts.
In a map presented by Belanger using data from the New Hampshire Department of Transportation and the city’s traffic engineer, that traffic has decreased in the past 20 years and is still within reasonable amounts outside of Mammoth Road. He added that Mammoth Road has recently received a federal grant for improvements.
Longtime Ward 7 resident Maurice Brisson thought the proposed changes made sense.
“It’s not too bad,” he said. “Things have to change around Wilson Street a little bit, but otherwise, it’s fine.”
Ward 7 State Representative Candidate Patrick Long believed that the changes were a good first step, but noted that minimum lot sizes could have decreased even further and still be in-line with what’s in place throughout much of the ward while also addressing the city’s need for additional housing.
“From people I’ve talked to, there was a lot of concern about housing affordability,” he said. “There’s also concern that zoning will be able to address the problem and I agree: zoning cannot be the entire solution, but it’s an important part of the solution.”
Previous meetings:
Ward 8 – South Manchester residents express concern over zoning proposal
Ward 10 – Ward 10 gets look at its proposed zoning future
Ward 12 – Zoning ordinance community meetings kick off with Ward 12 gathering
Ward 11 – Zoning rewrite draft proposes more mixed-use in Ward 11
Ward 1 – Gamut of perspectives at Ward 1 zoning gathering
Below is an updated tally of participants’ primary concerns posted through impromptu votes at the meetings
Walkability/Bikeability- 134
Housing – 131
Architectual Quality/Neighborhood Character- 106
Allowing Neighborhood Business in More Places- 60
Streamlining Permitting- 56
More Parking/Parking Enforcement- 22
Traffic- 14
More multi-family homes- 7
Jobs and Housing on Hackett Hill- 3
Less Density/Reduce Crime- 3
Traffic Noise- 3
Infrastructure investment- 3
Maintain Green Space 3
Reduce setback rules on accessory structures- 3
Recreation Activities/Children’s Sports- 2
Amoskeag Bridge Impacts- 2
Speed Bump on Milford Street- 2
Entry/Exit Roads- 2
Get rid of useless stop signs- 2
No more chicken restaurants/Cash for Gold on South Willow St- 2
Less Bars/Clean up Elm Street- 2
Ensure Sununu Youth Center land has affordable/ADA accessible housing- 2
Create boarding housing- 2
Climate Change- 1
Public Transportation- 1
Enforce speeding laws- 1
Prohibit short-term rentals in single-family residential zones- 1
Ensure home values do not drop due to development- 1
No 5G towers in residential areas- 1
Safety/More Lighting- 1
Increased housing variety- 1
And here is a list of the remaining meetings.
- Aug 14 6 p.m. — Ward 6, Green Acres Elementary
- Aug 17 10 a.m. — Ward 5, Manchester Community Resource Center
- Aug 21 6 p.m. — Ward 4, McDonough Elementary
- Aug 28 6 p.m. — Ward 2, Smyth Road Elementary
- Sep 4 6 p.m. — Ward 9, Bishop O’Neil Youth Center
- Sep 7 10 a.m. — Ward 3, Palace Theater Spotlight Room
Residents who can’t make the designated time for their ward are welcome to attend other meetings.
Residents who are unable to attend the meetings can participate in an online survey or learn more about the ordinance at manchesternh.gov/landusecode.