Consultants study city demographics during master planning process

LACONIA — A draft analysis of existing living conditions in the city, prepared as part of the master planning process, shows moderate anticipated growth over the coming years. 

City staff are working to update the master plan, last published in 2018. That document is just 18 pages long, and leaves city planners with much to be desired. In last year’s budget, councilors allocated $100,000 to create a new master plan document, and that process is well underway. 

The long-range planning document will include guidance on land use policy, housing, transportation, economic development and community investment over the forthcoming 10- to 15-year period. Resilience Planning and Design, RKG Associates and Beta Group Inc. are working with a steering committee through the process. 

The draft existing conditions analysis, published at the beginning of this year, examines in detail what the City of Laconia looks like today. It’s available for review at laconianh.gov/341/Master-Plan.

The master plan steering committee includes Planning Board Chair Charlie St. Clair; Gary Dionne; Ward 3 Councilor Eric Hoffman; Jennifer Ulrich; Patrick Wood; John McArdle; and city Planning Director Rob Mora. Their next meeting with consultants is scheduled for Thursday, March 26, at City Hall downtown. 

During a work session held on Thursday night, Mora told members that representatives of Resilience are working on public input survey questions for future community information sessions. 

A common thread throughout the draft existing conditions report is the promise of the Laconia State School property, upon which Pillsbury Realty Development intends to create a large, mixed-use community including housing, commerce, recreational spaces, and civic facilities. Their representatives say they anticipate the construction of more than 2,000 units of new housing, plus a grocery store, among other amenities. They’re under contract with the state to purchase the land, and anticipate closing on the deal at the end of July. 

The growth that’s expected as a result factors into the analysis frequently throughout the report. 

“Laconia in 2025 is a community shaped by a growing but aging population, strong businesses that provide regional employment, a somewhat constrained housing supply, and some aging public infrastructure,” the draft report reads. “However, Laconia is also defined by a dynamic land use pattern with distinct village centers and significant waterfront and natural resources.”

The land use section provides an overview of what exists where — across all 12 of the city’s zoning districts, residential rural comprises 40% of all lands, and residential single-family accounts for another 20%. About 8% of land, 918 acres, is conserved, and only about 2% is designated for commercial use. 

Overall, residential uses make up nearly half of the city’s land, and includes single-family homes, multifamily units, condominiums and mobile home parks. More than 20% of land in the city is classified as “vacant” or “other”, and includes utility-related lands, easements, miscellaneous properties and undeveloped parcels.

“Large areas of Laconia remain rural or low-density in character, particularly north of Elm Street and west of Paugus Bay, where development intensity decreases sharply,” the report reads. “These patterns contribute to the diversity of neighborhood types across the city.” 

The report also notes the city is experiencing large demand for new housing units, as household size decreases in-kind. The city’s stock comprises largely of single-family homes, and more than half were built before 1980. Seasonal and second-homes influence the market greatly, and over half of renters and one-third of owners spend more than 30% of their income on housing. The city is projected to require an additional 1,180 units by 2040. 

Since 2015, the median single-family home price in the city increased from $178,000 to $452,000: 154%. Median rent for a two-bedroom apartment now exceeds $1,500, a 44% increase since 2019, and 52% of renters are considered cost-burdened. About 25% of all housing in the city is seasonal units. 

“These rising prices have outpaced local income growth, making ownership increasingly unattainable for first-time buyers and workforce households,” according to the report.

The median household income in Laconia is $68,427, significantly lower than that observed in Belknap County and across the state, at $97,692 and $96,838, respectively.

“While median income did increase slightly in Laconia,” over the last 10 years, the report reads, “that increase was not enough to outpace inflation over that period of time, nor the rise in housing costs.”