Commissioners and planners discuss county land, planning grants and shifts in supportive‑housing funding

Strafford County commissioners spent a portion of their Nov. 20 meeting discussing longer‑term housing strategy, potential county land use for affordable housing and emerging state grant opportunities.

Chair George McGuire noted the county owns substantial parcels and said commissioners have talked about making some land available for housing. "We have a lot of land here," McGuire said, adding that much of it is in conservation but that colleagues are interested in exploring options for senior or workforce housing.

Betsy Andrews, joining by Zoom, said New Hampshire is shifting funding priorities and that the state may reduce permanent supportive housing projects in favor of transitional models: "There is kind of a crisis right now happening in the state of New Hampshire around housing," she said, and added that the state could lose more than 200 units of permanent supportive housing. Andrews encouraged public‑private partnerships and noted that targeted NOFOs for populations such as people with substance‑use disorders are expected.

Blair Haney (Strafford Regional Planning Commission) described planning grants as a suitable next step to assess county parcels’ feasibility for housing development and said the current implementation application could be leveraged toward a planning grant application. Haney offered to return with a proposal and requested guidance on which parcels or housing types commissioners prefer to pursue.

Commissioners expressed interest in prioritizing senior housing while noting workforce housing for county staff is also a consideration. Haney and county staff agreed to follow up with a timeline for planning work and to coordinate feasibility studies that could feed future grant applications.