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Planning Board and Heritage Commission debate historic recognition, recommend against 79-E for village homes
Summary
Board and Heritage Commission members discussed a Heritage Neighborhood option, nomination to the New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places (RSA 227-C:33), and concluded that the RSA 79-E tax incentive is unlikely to be useful for primarily residential village properties; members recommended other, less restrictive recognition paths.
Planning Board members and heritage commissioners on Monday discussed multiple paths for recognizing historic assets in Hooksett's village and debated whether to pursue the RSA 79-E renovation tax exemption in the village district.
Heritage Commission representatives outlined two separate ideas: (1) a "heritage neighborhood" overlay that would set agreed boundaries and locally developed rules for sections of the village, and (2) nomination of individual properties or a smaller collection of properties to the New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places (RSA 227-C:33). The Heritage Commission's chair, Tony, and other participants said the state register can provide recognition without automatically imposing local regulatory restrictions unless the town later adopts a local historic-district overlay.
Planning staff reviewed RSA 79-E (the state tax incentive that targets historic rehabilitation) and reported that the statute's thresholds make the program poorly suited to single-family residential properties in Hooksett's village: the general 79-E rule requires large qualifying rehabilitation expenditures (the meeting characterized the threshold as effectively $75,000 for eligibility, with only narrow exceptions), so typical village homeowners would not realize financial benefit. Staff recommended withdrawing the idea of using 79-E for the village and instead pursuing either targeted nomination of specific properties to the state register or a nonregulatory town recognition list.
Members discussed a local town registry (the planning board and heritage commission noted the town already has at least one locally-designated historic property, Roby Store) and agreed recognition could be useful to property owners and the community without imposing additional restrictions if implemented carefully. Heritage commissioners and staff said the statutory language for the state register specifically notes that listing alone does not prohibit property owners from taking actions on their property (RSA 227-C:33), although local ordinances can impose restrictions if the town later creates a local historic district.
Ending: The Heritage Commission will refine proposed boundaries and nominate properties after further research and consultation; the planning board and staff will coordinate how recognition language will appear in the master plan and how to present options to residents.
