Sponsor says bill limiting local setbacks to 50 feet aims to ease housing supply; municipal, conservation groups urge rejection

Summary

Senate Bill 231 would cap local setback and road-frontage requirements at 50 feet. Supporters say it would reduce zoning barriers to housing; municipal associations, conservation commissions and environmental groups say it would undercut local shoreline and wetland protections and create public‑safety and runoff risks.

Senate Bill 231, introduced at the Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing, would limit municipal requirements for front, side and wetland setbacks and for road frontage to a maximum of 50 feet.

Sponsor Keith Murphy, representing District 16, told the committee the measure is aimed at easing New Hampshire’s housing shortage by reining in what he characterized as excessive local zoning: "One of the primary causes of that housing issue is the towns that abused the zoning process," Murphy said. He described the bill as an effort “to maybe restore some semblance of property rights while addressing the housing issues that have been created by those…abuses.”

The bill drew immediate skepticism from municipal and conservation groups. Bernie Deshaies, representing the New Hampshire Municipal Association, said SB 231 is "a very broad zoning mandate, erasing many, if not all, existing dimensional…

Sponsor says bill limiting local setbacks to 50 feet aims to ease housing supply; municipal, conservation groups urge rejection

Summary

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