Planning board plans May public forum with Resilience; housing tools, ADUs and multifamily discussed

The Brentwood Planning Board agreed to work with Resilience (a planning consultant) on a public forum about the town's master plan and housing topics and tentatively set May 15, 5–7 p.m., at the recreation center for the event. Board members discussed outreach options including newsletter submissions, postcards mailed to residents using the town's mailing lists, and light refreshments to encourage attendance. They also discussed formats: Resilience and UNH Cooperative Extension were mentioned as possible facilitators and the board favored an open-house format with posters and small-group stations rather than a lengthy slide presentation.

On housing policy, the board recapped training from a Housing Academy session and several ideas that other communities used to increase participation and viability: scheduling midweek sessions, providing food, and bringing external facilitators. Members discussed accessory-dwelling-unit (ADU) options (detached and attached), duplex overlays, and multifamily or townhouse approaches as ways to create more housing choices. Participants emphasized that the central challenge is land and development cost; one figure cited as a HUD threshold for certain affordability conversations was $396,000, and panel remarks referenced a typical one-bedroom rent figure of about $1,700 in the region. The board noted examples from Dover, where financing partnerships (Service Credit Union) have been used to help ADU construction.

Board members agreed to draft newsletter copy (deadline for the April newsletter was noted as March 15 for an April edition) and to ask Resilience about postcard support and AV/equipment needs for the rec center. The board also considered scheduling alternatives if the May 15 date did not work for the rec center and planned follow-up outreach if turnout was low.