A statewide poll shows strong support for the state to set limits on how long towns and cities can take to review a proposed development.

A new poll shows most state voters still back one of the core permitting reforms floated by Gov. Chris Sununu and a bipartisan task force last year, despite the coronavirus pandemic. 

The Center for Ethics in Business and Governance at Saint Anselm College surveyed 478 New Hampshire registered voters in phone interviews between May 11 and 15.  Respondents were weighted by sex, educational attainment, homeownership status, party registration and county to match the characteristics of the population of New Hampshire registered voters. The poll was part of an initiative at Saint Anselm that is partly funded by the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority. 

Nearly 59 percent of those surveyed either agreed or strongly agreed with the idea that the state legislature should set a hard limit on how long planning and zoning boards can take to review permits for new housing. Only 18.9 percent either disagreed or strongly disagreed. 

In addition, only 31.3 percent of respondents said they believed the state’s communities should do more to prevent development and “keep the state the way it is.” Nearly 46 percent disagreed or strongly disagreed with that statement. However, only 28.4 percent said they believed towns and cities should relax planning and zoning regulations in order to allow more housing construction. 

“We designed the survey to be as scientific as possible with neutral language and questions that probe both pro- and anti-housing opinions,” Center for Ethics Director Jason Sorens said in a statement. “Even with the most appealing anti-housing framing we could think of – keeping the state we love the way it is – New Hampshire voters rejected anti-housing positions and supported pro-housing ones on the majority of questions.” 

The results could be encouraging for Sununu and his Republican and Democratic allies in the State House. A bipartisan task force issued 12 recommendations last fall for how the state could solve its growing shortage of housing affordable to low- and middle-income buyers and renters including the idea the state should impose penalties on towns and cities that do not complete their review of a proposed development within the state-mandated 65-day time limit. The idea was considerably toned down in the final legislation filed earlier this year, which awaits Senate action once the legislature is able to resume its meetings. 

The survey also turned up evidence the pandemic may only have limited impact on housing demand: 96 percent said the pandemic would not influence where they would want to live in the future. Three percent said they will now want to move to a more rural community and one percent said they will now want to move to a more urban community. 

“These results suggest that the supposed trend of moving from cities to suburbs after the pandemic, which a number of national newspapers have covered, is either overblown or simply not a factor in New Hampshire,” Sorens said. 

New Hampshire voters also support building more affordable housing, with 63 percent agreeing that “My community needs more affordable housing to be built,” and only 21 percent disagreeing. Most voters said their top reasons were letting seniors downsize (90 percent), fairness to the less fortunate (89 percent), keeping young people in the state (87 percent) and reducing homelessness (85 percent). Many voters were also sympathetic to economic arguments, with 84 percent of those who want more affordable housing said that helping the economy grow was a reason to support building affordable homes and 71 percent said that accommodating a growing workforce was a reason to do so. 

“The results of the survey reflect an awareness of the connection between an adequate supply of housing and a strong state economy. If employees have an adequate range of affordable housing options near where they work, the state’s businesses will be able to attract and retain the workers needed to keep our economy thriving,” Dean Christon, executive director of the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority, said in a statement.