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Bill to ban multi‑year municipal building moratoria draws split testimony over local authority
Summary
SB 163 would limit municipalities’ ability to impose long or blanket moratoria on building permits; proponents call moratoria a tool some towns use to block development, while municipal representatives say the authority is a rare, necessary pressure valve
Grant Bossie, deputy chief of staff for the New Hampshire Senate, introduced SB 163 on behalf of Sen. Howard Pearl, saying the bill would prohibit blanket moratoria on building permits and require municipalities to consider applications on their merits rather than block development by indefinite delay. “Current New Hampshire law allows towns to enact temporary moratoria on building permits under specific conditions,” Bossie said. “They can only be for up to 1 year, but they can be extended indefinitely.”
Supporters described moratoria and lengthy permit blocks as tools that some towns use to avoid participating in statewide housing solutions. Matt Mayberry of the New Hampshire Home Builders Association said a recorded planning‑board meeting in a town that effectively opposed housing showed how moratoria can be used to block workforce housing that met local rules. “Please don't give towns an off‑ramp to addressing [the housing shortage],” Mayberry said.
Opponents — including representatives from Hollis, Raymond, and the New Hampshire Municipal Association — argued a moratorium authority is an important safeguard for towns responding to sudden stresses on local infrastructure. Representative Liz Barber (Hollis) said towns without public water or sewer may need a pause to ensure growth is sustainable and safe: “Growth must be supported by the infrastructure that serves our town — roads, emergency services, and most critically our access to water.”
Several municipal witnesses described recent local situations where short moratoria or limits were used to address water or infrastructure emergencies; clinical examples included a town that placed a temporary restriction on water hookups under an administrative order and later resolved the problem without invoking the statutory moratorium. The New Hampshire Municipal Association urged lawmakers not to remove RSA 674:23 because it is a narrowly executed tool with reporting requirements and limits (the statute generally caps moratoria at one year and requires public reporting).
The committee heard testimony recommending targeted changes to improve transparency and strictness on the use of moratoria rather than a wholesale repeal. No committee action on SB 163 was recorded at the hearing.
