Housing Navigator Success Stories

The information contained in this article is not intended as legal advice and may no longer be accurate due to changes in the law. Consult NHMA's legal services or your municipal attorney.

The Community Housing Navigator Grant Program, a part of the InvestNH Planning & Zoning Grant Program, was funded through the American Rescue Plan Act funding. Up to six grants were available to hire Community Housing Navigators for a period of up to two years, to be completed by September 30, 2024.

The Housing Navigator positions were created to add capacity for municipalities to address housing shortages, challenges, conversations, and opportunities. To achieve this goal, Housing Navigators actively engaged
with community members, fostering partnerships, and building support networks. They provided technical assistance, conducted research, and utilized tools from the Housing Academy to enhance implementation of
housing solutions.

It was especially important for Housing Navigators to provide community engagement and education skills, and to build consensus around specific housing policies or planning projects. For the program to be a success,
Navigators worked with residents to build a driving force towards housing initiatives and some communities even created a designated committee to work on current and upcoming housing needs.

Two of the Housing Navigators, Courtney Grugnale and Renée Theall, combined have worked with five New Hampshire towns. The towns of Farmington and New Durham partnered to pursue a Housing Navigator grant, with support from Strafford Regional Planning Commission, because both towns were being impacted by similar housing pressures and challenges. In the Upper Valley region, the three towns of Newbury, New London, and Wilmot expressed interest in participating with the Upper Valley Lake Sunapee Regional Planning Commission’s (UVLSRPC) Housing Navigator.

Farmington
The town of Farmington has noticed a growing need for additional housing and has taken steps to fill that need. They have strong leadership in the town with a hands-on Planning board, dedicated town staff, and Town Planner Kyle Pimental. Farmington is located close to cities like Dover, Somersworth, and Rochester. In contrast to these cities, Farmington provides slightly more affordable homes. In recent years, Farmington has seen an increase in younger individuals moving to town. Affordability and proximity to major areas makes Farmington a desirable location for homes.

In response to the growing population and increasing housing demands, the planning board, in collaboration with Town Planner and Housing Navigator Courtney Grugnale, have taken steps to address barriers to housing. In the last year, the Planning board brought forward changes to the Zoning Ordinance that would increase the density allowed in several districts with the overall goal of increasing the supply of housing. These were voted on last March and passed. To make the proposed zoning amendments easier to understand, Courtney created a flyer to be given out that explained the proposed change, and why it was being brought forward. This was done in a way that used person centered language, was visually appealing, and had visual breakdowns for density.

In addition, Courtney, along with the project team applied for a Housing Opportunity Planning Grant to allow for a corridor analysis of Route 11 in Farmington. They were awarded the grant, which allowed for: an audit of zoning regulations, community engagement opportunities, reconvening a Tax Increment Financing committee, and for two new mixed-use districts along Route 11 to be considered. The mixed-use districts would allow for more housing opportunities without taking away from potential commercial along the corridor. These new districts will be voted on during the March 2025 voting session.

With new zoning regulations in place, and proposed amendments coming, Farmington is in a great spot for planning for the future of housing and working towards the needs of the community.

New Durham
Over the last two years, the town of New Durham has made progress towards housing and outlining the vision of the community. They have held three community engagement forums: one was a collaboration with the Planning board and Housing Navigator; another was an SRPC and Development Committee event; and the last, and most recent, was a collaboration between the Development Committee and Housing Navigator. With support from the Planning board, Selectboard, SRPC staff, and town staff, Courtney applied for and received a Housing Opportunity Planning grant (HOP) for the town to use towards master plan revisions in the housing and land use chapters. The advantage of having a Navigator and HOP project grant allowed for the collaboration on community engagement. In addition to partnering on a forum, they worked together to distribute a survey with over 400 responses. 

Throughout the last two years, Courtney has helped to plan and organize three forums which consisted of providing attendees with data, group discussions, station activities and presentations. These provided a great space for residents to gather to discuss the vision of the town and allowed for recruitment to the Development Committee. A subcommittee of the Planning board that would take what they’re hearing from the community and use that to move forward with commercial and residential development.

The Planning board has been able to leverage having a Housing Navigator to provide committee support on housing topics. To publicize for the forums, Courtney worked with the committee and town staff to post on the town’s website, social media, sent out mailouts, posted on bulletin boards, at local restaurants, the gas station, the library, and committee members handed out flyers at the transfer station. Yet, the most powerful form of publicity was word of mouth.

Using a hands-on approach to community engagement Courtney and the Development Committee were able to identify three key housing needs in the community: accessible 55+ housing, starter homes for young families, and housing for municipal workers and volunteers. The town has expressed a strong interest in Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) and smaller home developments, which the Development Committee is actively pursuing. As the Housing Navigator has come to an end the committee will continue the work needed to reach their housing goals.

New London
Nestled in the Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee region, the quaint town of New London is conveniently located along I-89, roughly midway between the larger hubs of Concord and Lebanon/Hanover. The town itself boasts a medium employment hub that includes: Colby-Sawyer College, New London Hospital, Hannaford, and several restaurants, smaller-scale storefronts & local businesses through the center of town.

The New London Housing Commission (NLHC) was created in late 2020. In 2022, the Housing Commission was tasked with drafting a zoning amendment to their Workforce Housing ordinance for the Planning board. It went to allot spring of 2023 and passed. The Housing Commission did a vast amount of preparation to draft the amendment and get it across the finish line. Renée Theall, UVLSRPC Housing Navigator, came on board right as this was wrapping up and heading to ballot. After it passed, the Housing Commission celebrated and then went right to work and asked “what’s next?” The statewide conversation around Accessory Dwelling
Units (ADUs) was plentiful, the Commission members leaned into that and rolled up their sleeves to propose an amendment to the Planning board. Throughout the past year, Renée was able to research and review other town ordinances and bring that information to them. Highlighting the regulatory options in neighboring towns can foster cohesion in zoning, while allowing ability for minor adjustments to address the community's unique needs. Not all zoning amendments achieve success, and that is part of the journey. While the ADU amendment did not pass, it did identify key areas for future consideration by the town.

New London also had a strong response rate in the recent Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) surveys completed by UVLSRPC. At the request of the Housing Commission, Renée was able to dive into that data and provided two presentations. The first one was on the resident responses and the second was on the employer responses. The presentations were given at the monthly Housing Commission meetings and at the end had great questions/comments from both commission members and the public. This focused data and presentation provided valuable insights to the Housing Commission, keeping them apprised of the most recent information available.

The Housing Commission and Planning board remain committed in actively participating in housing conversations. The town applied for and received, a Housing Opportunity Planning (HOP) Grant. They kicked that off this past Summer and have some exciting community outreach events coming up.

Newbury
Just south of New London is picturesque Newbury. A town full of recreational amenities for every season of the year. From Mt. Sunapee in the winter, to being on the water or hiking in the summer, there is always something to do.

Working with the UVLSRPC Housing Navigator, Renée and the Planning board had many conversations around housing needs for their town. Renée was also able to attend conferences across the state, along with the Housing Academy trainings, and bring back relevant information for the board. Throughout these conversations, some challenging limitations rose to the top. Most stemmed around land constraints such as steep
slopes and wetlands, but the board also discussed the regulatory building size minimum as being a potential constraint. The board decided to amend the zoning ordinance, and it went on the ballot spring 2024 and passed.

A challenge for Newbury, and many other towns, is the lack of town water and sewer infrastructure. Water and sewer are not often seen as exciting or engaging to talk about. However, the lack of this resource is a common topic for many towns when discussing residential growth. Employers are becoming increasingly involved in housing discussions and trying to find creative housing options, often with shared water and
sewer systems. In Newbury, one employer recently presented a concept for lustered homes to the planning board. Through research, Renée was able to provide valuable insights regarding employer/housing solutions that are emerging both statewide and nationally.

While building relationships with board members and community members, Renée was able to help push the needle forward on housing conversations and raise awareness about diverse housing options. For example, at the Newbury Old Home Day event, the outreach facilitated engaging conversations with community members eager to explore measures that could advance home creation. This also included the topic of creative solutions to help those wishing to age in place and continue to live in the community where they have put their roots for so many years. While there is no perfect recipe, it starts with these conversations to better understand and a willingness to explore potential solutions. Newbury is in a great position to continue these discussions.  

Wilmot
The town of Wilmot is adjacent to both New London and Newbury and concludes the Housing Navigator communities. Wilmot is a quiet town that sits between the employment hubs of Lebanon and Concord and is a neighbor of the slightly smaller employment hub of New London. Limited housing stock and lack of varying home types are a challenge for Wilmot. A strong need for starter/age in place homes were identified early on.

While Wilmot may be small, it is mighty. The town had the Housing Navigator and HOP grant running simultaneously during the first year (2023). The combined efforts led to a strong outreach – approximately 350 residents were engaged! In a community such as Wilmot, it can be challenging to “find” the people in town, given that businesses/meeting places are sparce. Renée was determined and creatively implemented outreach
strategies from the Housing Academy. In strategizing where to reach voices that may otherwise not be at a town meeting, “Transfer Station & Tea” was formed. The outreach took place over two and a half days and garnered meaningful conversations and valuable information for the Planning board.

Another outreach event that was a great success was that of the Halloween Walking Tour. This event was put on by the HOP grant but included prep outreach and setup assistance from Renée. She was able to be in town leading up to the event and went door to door to let folks know in the village what was going to be happening that upcoming weekend. The collaboration that was leveraged for this engagement proved to be a large part of the success for the event.

Throughout the outreach events, the Planning board was proactive in listening to what they were hearing from residents. In the spring of 2023 they had written, proposed, and passed mixed use for the village and commercial zones. Then, they proposed a zoning ordinance amendment to allow two ADUs by-right. This came about largely from a conceptual that was presented to the board, along with positive resident feedback to gentle density via ADUs. The ADU amendment went to ballot and passed in the spring of 2024. Through outreach efforts via sticky dot boards, surveys, and conversations, the planning board also heard that village growth and open/green space was of importance to residents. While wanting to tackle some density allowances and preserve open/green space, the Conservation Subdivision was proposed. Due to the lengthy and thoroughness desired, the planning board created a subcommittee to explore and draft a proposed amendment. This subcommittee is still in process of drafting and they, along with the planning board, hope to have something on the ballot for the Spring 2025 vote.

Summary
The additional capacity provided by Housing Navigators enhanced community planning and engagement efforts, offering vital support to hard working town staff and volunteer boards with tasks that can often feel
overwhelming. An added benefit of having the Housing Navigator within the Regional Planning Commissions (RPCs) allowed other Planners to assist when a task or request came up, such as more technical assistance or mapping services. A goal, and success, of the Housing Navigators was to help all residents feel a sense of ownership within their communities. Every town has its own unique characteristics, which influence how conversations, proposed amendments, and community engagement unfold. The Housing Navigators role in understanding these local dynamics was crucial for fostering meaningful dialogue and effective change. The relationships developed over the past two years have fostered involvement among community members who may not have otherwise participated in these meaningful conversations. This cumulative work has been a success to propel housing discussions forward.