Lawmakers review housing-target language; regional planners warn small towns lack data and capacity
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Summary
A legislative committee reviewed proposed housing-target language (drawn from H602 and proposed for H775) that would require municipalities to analyze whether they can meet regional housing targets. Commissioner Alex Farrell emphasized use of state/regional data; Northwest RPC director Catherine Demetra warned small towns lack staff and historical data to meet highly prescriptive requirements.
Commissioner Alex Farrell of the Department of Housing and Community Development told the General & Housing committee on Feb. 18 that proposed housing-target language drawn from section 11 of H602 and being considered for H775 would require municipalities to "identify and analyze the existing and projected housing needs" and that municipalities may rely on department or regional analyses rather than prepare new local studies.
Farrell said the department will publish a housing needs assessment and housing targets for regions so towns "don't have to go and do your own new housing needs assessment," adding that "the department's gonna publish a housing needs assessment and housing targets, and your region has disaggregated those for you." The draft language would ask municipalities to inventory housing types, location and condition; identify constraints such as zoning, infrastructure and market incentives; and outline actions the jurisdiction could take, including zoning updates or infrastructure improvements.
Why it matters: lawmakers are trying to align municipal planning with statewide and regional housing targets so local plans can better inform statewide housing policy, funding priorities and technical assistance. The committee discussed whether the statute should require towns to produce detailed analyses or allow more limited, descriptive responses where local capacity or data are lacking.
Regional planners push back: Catherine Demetra, executive director of the Northwest Regional Planning Commission, told the committee she is "concerned that the level of analysis and the detail that's requested is out of the capacity and capability of our smaller communities," and that the granular historical data the statute asks for often does not exist. Demetra recommended limiting the most detailed statutory requirements to "urban towns" (she cited the statutory definition of an urban town as 5,000 residents or more) and creating a lighter reporting standard for smaller, rural towns.
Demetra gave Fletcher—a small town she described as seeing "3 to 7 units a year" of housing growth—as an example of a community for which translating that growth into location, condition and occupancy classifications would be difficult without additional data or RPC assistance. She also advised the committee that municipal plans are updated infrequently and that changing statute alone will yield results slowly unless the committee adopts a different tool or requires faster plan updates.
Infrastructure and funding: Farrell noted that many communities will identify infrastructure limits—water, wastewater, roads—and said municipalities are likely to request funds to support infrastructure improvements. He said the bill as drafted invites municipalities to explain constraints and recommended the department could remove a municipal reporting requirement because the department is expanding its data capabilities and "will report on progress." Farrell added there is no penalty tied to failing to meet targets under the draft language; municipalities would document why they could not reach targets.
Hotel and motel conversions: a committee member asked why the state does not purchase hotels for conversion into housing; Farrell replied the state has not contemplated becoming a direct owner or developer and is more likely to support conversions "through funding sources, allow or incentivize that to move forward." He noted past statutory changes that prevent municipal zoning from blocking hotel-to-residential conversions.
Next steps and follow-up: Demetra agreed to provide written recommendations and suggested RPCs follow up with towns—after future land-use mapping is completed—to catalog local barriers. Committee members signaled they hope to vote the bill out quickly; the chair said the committee is "trying, I think, to vote this out by Friday," and adjourned to reconvene at 1:00 p.m. on the same day for a separate matter.
No formal motion or vote on H775 occurred during the session; the discussion centered on drafting details, practical implementation and technical assistance.
