Housing

Housing Needs Analysis Project

The City of Keene completed a comprehensive housing needs analysis for Keene that articulates the critical issues, opportunities, and solutions to address the community’s housing needs. The report documents existing housing conditions within the city, identifies market and other forces that affect housing supply and demand now and over the next 10 years, and identifies gaps or deficiencies in maintaining equitable access to safe, resilient, and reliable housing to as many Keene residents as possible.  The project concluded with the City Council's vote to accept the report on June 15, 2023. 

Community Engagement

• A Housing Workshop on February 7, 2023 gave us the opportunity to hear from as many people as possible about housing-related issues, concerns, and ideas. Input from this workshop informed the housing needs analysis as well as the proposed housing strategy in the final report.  Attendees also got a preview of the data collected from the project consultant, Camoin Associates.
• Interviews were conducted throughout the project with developers and land use consultants, major employers such as C&S Wholesale Grocers, Keene State College, and Cheshire Medical Center, Non-profit housing organizations, and housing advocates.
• A Housing Resiliency Survey was conducted which garnered 354 responses.
• A Community Housing Open House was held at the Hannah Grimes Center on April 20, 2023. Attendees learned about Keene's proposed housing strategy and were asked to provide feedback on proposed strategies using dot stickers and an online poll. 

Resources

Housing Workshop Slide Presentation (February 7, 2023)

Regional Housing Needs Assessment (Southwest Region Planning Commission)

Draft City of Keene Housing Inventory (February 2020)

Meeting Presentations

The consultant made two presentations to the Joint Committee of the Planning Board and the Planning Licenses and Development Committee on March 13, 2023, and April 10, 2023, and made a final presentation to the City Council Planning Licenses and Development Committee on June 7, 2023.

March 13, 2023, Community Housing Needs Assessment Presentation

April 10, 2023, Strategy Review Presentation

June 7, 2023, Final Presentation

Background

Keene is experiencing significantly different demographic trends and socioeconomic circumstances than the decades following World War II when many of the City’s residential zoning districts last underwent a comprehensive update. These years were characterized by substantial in-migration and rapid housing development.  During this era, the paradigm for planning and land use regulation was focused on limiting or, in some instances, controlling growth.  In more recent years, the city’s growth rates have sharply slowed and are projected to stay low over the next three decades.  Keene faces considerable challenges, including a rapidly aging population, slow economic recovery, loss of youth and young professionals, and increased competition in an increasingly globalized society. Housing has been identified as a critical challenge for many years and is now at the crisis stage, affecting the local economy and workforce retention and recruitment.

The highest priority implementation strategy of Keene’s Comprehensive Master Plan is to “Rewrite the City’s Land Use and Zoning Regulations to Proactively Achieve the Community’s Vision for the Future.” In May 2021, the City made major strides toward this goal with the adoption of a comprehensive land use code update that combined the City’s zoning and land use regulations into a single document, the Keene Land Development Code (LDC). This effort was focused mainly on re-organizing and streamlining regulations, in addition to creating new form-based zoning districts in the downtown. Other notable changes include the creation of alternate parking requirements, an expansion of the area where no parking is required, an increase in the allowed building height in the downtown to seven stories, and a streamlined site plan review process for projects that meet certain criteria.

The next phase of this project involves reexamining the Keene's residential and other zoning districts outside the downtown and assessing how well the City’s regulations align with the Comprehensive Master Plan goals, including those related to housing.

Since the adoption of the Land Development Code in 2021, the following zoning amendments have been adopted to address barriers to housing:

1. July 21, 2022 - Ordinance O-2022-04 was adopted to allow "Dwelling, Multi-Family" as a permitted principal use in the Commerce District with the limitation that all dwelling units must be located above the ground floor. In addition, the allowed height in the Commerce District was increased from 2 stories to 4 stories. 
2. November 17, 2022 - Ordinance O-2022-11 was adopted to streamline the Conservation Residential Development Subdivision process and add density incentives for projects that involve workforce housing, renewable energy, and additional conservation of open space. 
3. May 18, 2023 - Ordinance O-2023-02 reduced the minimum lot size in the Rural District from five acres to two acres. 
4. June 15, 2023 - Ordinance O-2023-06 was adopted to expand the area where accessory dwelling units (ADUs) are allowed and make it easier and more convenient to build ADUs in Keene.
5. May 16, 2024 - Ordinance O-2024-01 established a new overlay district, the Cottage Court Overlay, to allow "missing middle" housing types in all residentially-zoned areas of the city where water and sewer service are available.