Hudson’s Zoning and Planning Boards held a joint workshop on October 19 to review the latest proposed changes to the town’s zoning ordinances, including new language designed to encourage housing development while maintaining compliance with recent changes in state law.
Jay Minkarah, Executive Director of the Nashua Regional Planning Commission (NRPC), presented a packet outlining the proposed revisions.
“For the conditions on the issuance of building permits, it’s suggested that you eliminate the square footage requirements for single-family, duplex, and multi-family units,” said Minkarah. “We’ve now had a change in state law that does say we have to allow for alternative types of housing, which includes tiny homes. It would prohibit tiny homes if we kept the old language here, and it would prohibit smaller ADUs, which we allow.”
Rules governing Accessory Dwelling Units, or ADUs, have been relaxed in recent years as communities across New Hampshire look for ways to increase housing opportunities. The workshop also included discussion of a new housing concept known as a cottage court.
“A cottage court is kind of a shorthand term people are using for an ordinance provision that would allow smaller, usually single-family homes to be built with the idea that they increase affordability and diversity of housing types,” Minkarah explained after reviewing similar ordinances from around New Hampshire. “Overall, my general feeling is that a lot of them are more complicated than they need to be.”
Under the proposal, cottage courts would be permitted in most residential zoning districts, excluding the business and rural residential districts. The ordinance would define a cottage court as “a cluster of three or more small, detached, single-family homes” oriented around a common green space, courtyard, or small street.
The proposed ordinance would cap the size of individual units at 1,200 square feet, excluding garages, porches, and unfinished basements. No minimum home size was included in the draft language.
Director of Development Services Elvis Dhima compared the concept to a 55-plus development, but without age restrictions and with homes centered around a shared common area.
“Are you saying one can have the units on a single lot?” asked Planning Board Chair Tim Malley.
Minkarah confirmed that the proposal would allow multiple detached homes on a single parcel under a condominium-style ownership and management structure, though other ownership arrangements could also be permitted.
The ordinance would also require utility connections, including municipal sewer service, for any new cottage court development.
Several board members expressed concern that the proposal could unintentionally allow larger property owners to subdivide land into smaller building lots without the level of review normally associated with residential development.
“If somebody has a 15,000-square-foot lot and they wanted to carve off 5,000 square feet, is this language contradicting the ability of those parents to build a single-family house for their children?” asked Zoning and Planning Board member Todd Boyer.
Minkarah responded that the proposed language would not permit that type of development because a cottage court must contain at least three homes.
“As it is written, there’s no magic to the number three. This concept just says three or more,” he said.
He further assured board members that existing minimum lot sizes, utility requirements, and other zoning regulations would remain in place as safeguards against abuse of the ordinance.
The discussion is expected to continue as town officials refine the proposed zoning amendments before forwarding them to voters for consideration.