Housing, natural resources focus of Belmont meetings next week

Residents should be prepared for two important public planning meetings next week.

On Monday, July 9, economist Russ Thibeault of Applied Economic Research in Laconia will present the second of four housing study reports to the Planning Board in the Corner Meeting House at 7 p.m.

Two nights later, on Wednesday, July 11, the Conservation Commission will hold a public meeting to discuss the town’s recently completed Natural Resources Inventory at 6:30 p.m. in the same building.

Both meetings could have a profound impact on how Belmont approaches development and growth issues in the future.

Thibeault, considered one of the state’s leading economist, gave his first housing study presentation back in March. (Minutes from that meeting are available on the town website at http://www.belmontnh.org/agendas.) At the time, he identified both local and regional housing supply and demand trends.

He noted that, despite appearances that may indicate the contrary, Belmont has not really grown much faster than the rest of the Lakes Region in recent years.

The town’s biggest problem — that is, the factor that most impacts taxes and, therefore, available town services — is that it has a greater variety of housing stock than most other local communities, including 27-percent mobile/manufactured housing and little lakefront property with expensive homes that can soften the property tax bite on other homeowners.

Adding to the fiscal stress is the fact that Belmont has “more than its share of subsidized housing,” Thibeault said. So while other towns in the Lakes Region may yet need to make provisions for middle or lower-income residents, Belmont has 40 subsidized units for elderly people and another 88 other subsidized units on the drawing board.

But one positive aspect of the town is that while much of Lakes Region is growing primarily with new senior citizens, Belmont still attracts a good amount of younger people. So while some towns are becoming “retirement communities,” Thibeault said that Belmont has a good mix of people.

“A key need is to balance the inventory of lower priced housing with more upper middle income housing,” he concluded. “That is a pattern that has emerged in recent years and should be encouraged to continue.”

At Monday’s meeting, Thibeault will be talking about housing affordability, examining the issue from the perspective of current and future residents as well as the town’s obligation to meet its regional “fair share” for different portions of the housing market.

The third and fourth housing study presentations, which have not yet been scheduled, will focus on housing projections and the potential impact of the study’s results on policies, i.e., zoning regulations.

At the Conservation Commission meeting on Thursday night, Watershed to Wildlife, Inc. of Littleton, the company that recently completed the town’s Natural Resource Inventory, will present its findings.

Identifying and locating natural resources is an important aspect for town planning, especially for a community like Belmont where many residents have the desire for the community to maintain its “rural character, according to Commission Chairman Ken Knowlton.

“It will give us an overlay of what we have for wildlife and the areas where it’s critical — that is, if there are certain special areas where they (certain wildlife species) would be best suited, we might propose that we have some conservation zoning. Or it would give us some reasoning to say why would do something like increase the number of acres required in order to build (a residence or business),” he said. “It’s going to be a tool that will let us leave more green space, more open space in town.”