Aitken: HB 341 Voted ITL, Should Be Rejected by Full House

Are Special Interests Running Our Legislature?

The House Municipal and County Government Committee voted HB 341 "Inexpedient to Legislate" (ITL) by a vote of 10-9 on 3/12/2021. We agree with that recommendation and thus urge the full House of Reps to vote YES on ITL, rejecting the bill for good.

Write to them here, asking them to please vote YES on ITL of HB 341:
nhhouse@leg.state.nh.us

Sadly some legislators have introduced a bunch of similar bills that attempt to 'urbanize' rural towns in NH by favoring high-density construction over single-family homes. These bills should be sent to the trash bin.

At that recent hearing on HB 341, two people testifying in favor of allowing 4-plexes were from out-of-state. The Mercatus Center at George Mason University, Virginia, (mercatus.gmu.edu) was represented by Salim Furth. His NH testimony is published on that site under his name. The other out-of-state organization was Neighborhood Workshop of Portland, Oregon (neighborhoodworkshop.org), represented by lobbyist, Neil Heller. As we saw with TPUDC and Bedford, they are indicative of the strong national push to urbanize everywhere with the construction of apartments and multi-plexes in place of single family residences. Parking for these buildings is purposely limited with the idea of curtailing the use of cars. These are the same views we have heard being pushed by many espousing the 'new urbanist' scam, as if cars will just 'go away', or that people won't want to live in their own homes on a piece of land.

The excuse that we always hear is that the state of NH needs to provide more "affordable housing". In addition to not being a constitutionally allowed function of state government, there is no assurance that such measures will result in affordable housing, or that people will cease using cars.

Homeowners, especially those who cherish the rural flavor of their small towns in NH, should be troubled by out-of-staters with an agenda attempting to influence what happens in NH.

See the full list of registered out-of-state lobbyists who are allowed to influence your NH legislature.

http://bedfordresidents.com/br...

This is why it is so important to write to the Committees as they examine the bills and make recommendations on whether the bills should pass, and then again, write to the full House/Senate to ask them to vote to support or oppose those recommendations.

Here is an opinion piece about what is happening in Amherst, Mass., regarding development, parking, and dealing with an appointed Planning Board. This is happening everywhere that residents are unaware, and do not protest loudly. Peterborough NH residents were smart. They are glad they petitioned, and then voted to have an elected Planning Board.

https://www.gazettenet.com/Gue...

Don't forget to write to the House of Reps asking them to please vote YES on ITL of HB 341: nhhouse@leg.state.nh.us