Attorney warns city opposition to Bay Street project could violate federal law

Project addresses a 'desperate need' for more housing despite pushback

A project that’s been coming before city boards for nearly a year is headed back to the Planning Board on Monday, Nov. 6, and this time under stakes that are higher than at last month’s meeting.

The project, which proposes to build 12 single-occupancy, efficiency apartments on a 0.29-acre lot on Bay Street, is brought by Lakes Region Community Developers. The development, which would also engage Lakes Region Mental Health Center, is designed to provide housing and services for people who are either experiencing or are at risk of homelessness.

So far, the project has been stuck on the issue of parking. The proposal includes a parking lot with spaces for six vehicles, while the city’s ordinances would require 18, or 1.5 spaces per unit.

The application proposed deeding six more spaces out of the nearby parking lot for the Community Developers’ office, but the Zoning Board of Adjustment denied that request. At the last Planning Board meeting on Oct. 3, a board member suggested a few more spaces could be created along the driveway, but the applicant, according to staff notes prepared for the Nov. 6 meeting, has determined that adding those spaces would prevent a fire truck from accessing the property.

Community Developers has asserted, throughout the process, that even six parking spaces is more than this project would require, as the overwhelming majority of the population they seek to serve with this housing don’t have the means to own vehicles.

Further — as stated in a letter to the board by Attorney Megan Carrier of the firm Sheehan Phinney — the application was accepted by the board through its Performance Zoning provision, which allows the board to consider the project as it would relate to its immediate neighborhood and its benefit to the community, rather than by how strictly it adheres to zoning ordinances.

The Planning Board is expected to discuss, and perhaps vote on, the project at its meeting scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 6. Because the public hearing for the project was closed at the Oct. 3 meeting, and no new hearing has been noticed, it is not expected that members of the public will be able to comment on the Bay Street project at the meeting.

Questions of bias

Carter’s letter, dated Oct. 13, references some of the commentary that was first provided by members of the public, and responses from members of the board.

At the Oct. 3 meeting, a member of the public described fears about sharing the neighborhood with people who require mental health services, particularly “when somebody gets off their meds or goes astray.” Several other members of the public, including residents of Bay Street, shared similar thoughts.

Those comments sparked discussion among Planning Board members, with some expressing sympathy for the concerns of Bay Street residents, but at least one board member noting that zoning would allow for the construction of a conventional home, which might also end up with 12 people living there.

Bruce Cheney, the city council’s representative to the Planning Board, responded by saying that the 12 people who might take up residence in a conventional home “wouldn’t all be mental health folks who need help. They would be families and folks that fit in the neighborhood.”

Carrier’s letter suggested that continued opposition to the project could violate federal laws, specifically the Fair Housing Act, which she said “prohibits municipalities from making zoning and land-use decisions, or implementing land-use policies, that exclude or otherwise discriminate against individuals with disabilities,” as well as the Americans with Disabilities Act, which makes it unlawful to discriminate against someone because of a mental illness.

Cheney’s comments drew criticism, including from Beth Vachon, director of development and public relations for the Lakes Region Mental Health Center, who alleged that his words indicated a bias against her clientele.

At a subsequent City Council meeting, Cheney, who represents Ward 1, read a prepared statement in which he described his lengthy and accomplished career in public service, he denied holding any prejudice against people who need mental health services.

However, he said on Friday, Nov. 3 he would be recusing himself from discussion of the project, and City Council would instead be represented by Councilor Mark Haynes, who represents Ward 4.

Cheney said he continues to see himself as a fair adjudicator of the project, and denies holding an internal bias, but that he recognized that his continued participation could invite legal action if the project were to be denied.

“I don’t want to drag the city into any more nonsense than necessary,” Cheney said.

‘A small but significant step’

Mayor Andrew Hosmer, who said he was aware of Cheney’s decision to recuse himself, said it’s appropriate for Haynes to fill in. “Bay Street is in his ward. It’s in his backyard.”

The Bay Street proposal is limited in its scale — it would only be able to serve 12 people at any given time‚ but it’s the kind of project the city needs, Hosmer said.

“We have a housing crisis in this city that is having a devastating impact on some of the residents of the city. This project is a small but significant step forward in bringing some housing stability to people who are in desperate need of it,” Hosmer said.

The problem of homelessness has been apparent in Laconia for years and is growing, yet it’s proven a challenge to develop programs and services to address the issue. Hosmer said the Bay Street project represents a “housing first” approach, which prioritizes the establishment of a safe, stable housing situation for people, then look at what other services are needed.

“If we’re telling people to get off of Main Street and out of the alcoves, we’re not just pushing them into a void,” Hosmer said. “The housing-first model is evidence-based and successful.”

The Bay Street project would help to address a “desperate need,” Hosmer said. “Choosing to ignore the problem, or waiting for the perfect solution,” will only allow the situation to worsen. “We can and we should do better.”

Hosmer said he’s bothered by some of the commentary around this project, specifically comments that have degraded both Lakes Region Community Developers and Lakes Region Mental Health Center.

“They have been maligned by a very small group of people, and they have been personally attacked, reputation-wise, and I find that troubling,” Hosmer said. The two organizations have been providing service to the Lakes Region for decades, he said. “This criticism of them is so misplaced, so ignorant. It’s bullying behavior. That’s troubled me enormously.”

This article is being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information, visit collaborativenh.org.