Unfortunately, City Hall Received a Needs Improvement on their report card!
It has been said everything we need to know we all learned in kindergarten. It is clear Portsmouth City Hall has forgotten what they learned. One of the milestones in Kindergarten is the understanding of community rules.
On April 17th there was an Appeal that was made in Pursuant of Section RSA 677:4 A motion for Rehearing of a Local Decision made by a Legislative Body called the Portsmouth City Council.
It seems that City Council has forgotten to review the RSAs for Land Use. RSAs are State Rules that communities in New Hampshire must follow. City Hall failed Kindergarten 101.
On April 3rd 2023 the City Manager asked the City Council to make a decision that was not theirs to make. The City Manager asked the Council on behalf of the developer to do the following:
TO CHANGE THE RSA COMPLIANT PLAN FOR 2454 LAFAYETTE RD OF 95 CONDO UNITS FOR SALE, WITH 20% WORKFORCE HOUSING UNITS, AFFORDABLE TO A HOUSEHOLD WITH AN INCOME OF NO MORE THAN 100% OF THE MEDIAN INCOME FOR A 4 PERSON HOUSEHOLD.
TO: A NON-COMPLIANT PROJECT OF 95 APARTMENT RENTALS, WITH 20% WORKFORCE HOUSING UNITS, WITH THE SAME 100% AMI FOR A 3 PERSON HOUSEHOLD.
This is IN VIOLATION OF RSA 672:58 IV (State Law) WHICH STATES:
“WORKFORCE HOUSING MEANS HOUSING WHICH IS INTENDED FOR SALE AND WHICH IS AFFORDABLE TO A HOUSEHOLD WITH AN INCOME OF NO MORE THAN 100% OF THE MEDIAN INCOME FOR A 4 PERSON HOUSEHOLD.
“WORKFORCE HOUSING ALSO MEANS RENTAL HOUSING WHICH IS AFFORDABLE TO A HOUSEHOLD WITH NO MORE THAN 60% OF A MEDIAN INCOME OF A 3 PERSON HOUSEHOLD.
If you want to be at 100% Median Income you have to sell the property. However, if you want to rent, you have to be at 60% of our City’s Median Income of a 3-person Household.
In kindergarten we learn to share and not be greedy, it seems the developer and the City was absent when this was reviewed in class.
THE NEW HAMPSHIRE SECTION RSA 672:58 IV SUPERSEDES THE CITY ZONING ORDINANCE. A LOCAL ZONING ORDINANCE CANNOT OVERRIDE THE REQUIREMENTS OF A STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE RSA, SPECIFICALLY- PER RSA 672:58 IV, WHICH DEFINES WORKFORCE HOUSING.
– THE PLANNING BOARD, PLANNING DEPARTMENT, OR THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PORTSMOUTH DOES NOT HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO CHANGE THE DEFINITIONS OF AND REQUIREMENTS FOR NH SECTION RSA 672:58 IV
Petra Huda and myself have asked for a rehearing and have the City Council Follow the Laws of the Land.
PER SECTION 677:3 – A MOTION FOR REHEARING MADE UNDER RSA 677:2 SHALL SET FORTH THE GROUNDS UPON WHICH THE CLAIM OR DECISION IS UNLAWFUL OR UNREASONABLE.
The Portsmouth City Council needs to do what is right; send the Developers request back to the Portsmouth Land Use Boards for full review. Our hope is Portsmouth City Council will reflect on what they learned in kindergarten!
Submitted by
Esther Kennedy
Portsmouth, NH
