Aitken: Stop Taxpayer Funded Lobbying!

On January 19 the NH State "Office of Planning and Development", another of Sununu’s newly created bureaucracies, will hold a session to "educate” state reps about upcoming housing legislation. The OPD is nothing more than a taxpayer-funded lobbying group which, like the Housing Appeals Board, should be illegal. They are pushing for passage of bills that give more of your tax dollars to favored developers to flood your little towns with ugly, unwanted stack’n’pack housing.

The Housing Appeals Board — which by the way for you libertarians who love to run crying to the state for your "rights" — has heard few, if any, appeals from ordinary homeowners about the free use of their property. Instead this 3-person group of appointees has sided 95% of the time with developers against voters of towns in which those developers appealed planning and zoning decisions that were not favorable to them. Put plainly, those town meeting votes were nullified.

The HAB:

- is made up of 3 unelected, appointed industry "professionals"

- can override ANY town committee's rules, laws or ordinances (school board, town council, planning board, conservation commission etc)

- has already overridden current zoning in at least 14 cases siding with developers, the latest in Hooksett, claiming that decision by the town to have been 'unlawful' even though zoning laws were being followed exactly

- allows developers to take tax dollars to seed projects

- allows developers to then get 10+ years of tax-free status while reaping the rental money

- puts the burden on the single-family homeowners due to need for more fire, police, EMTs, social services

Governor Sununu pays much lip service to local control but in truth, continues to defy it by pushing state takeover of local zoning and planning decisions. Every time one of his Bolshevik-style bills gets defeated he creates another bureaucracy to effect an end run around the legislature.

Zoning and planning decisions belong to the towns and not some unelected, accountable state agency made up of industry hacks. Every town office should be challenging the HAB and taxpayer funded lobbying in court. Every voter should complain to their legislators and governor.

For more information please visit bedfordresidents.com