MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen’s Committee on Administration and Information Systems voted to recommend the creation of a Manchester Housing Commission on Tuesday.
The proposal was one of the key recommendations from last month’s report from the Mayor’s Affordable Housing Taskforce, with a release from the mayor’s office earlier in the day indicating that the commission’s main goal would be implementation of the task force’s recommendations.
Will Stewart (Ward 2) and Pat Long (Ward 3) commented in favor of the recommendation. Joseph Kelly Levasseur (At-Large) asked if the Manchester Housing and Redevelopment Authority (MHRA) could play the expected role of the Housing Commission, with Committee Chairman Anthony Sapienza (Ward 5) saying that the MHRA plays a federal role.
Levasseur appeared to be asking another question when Sapienza began to call for a vote. At this point, Levasseur called Sapienza “a fucking asshole,” and then criticized his ability to hold a meeting.
The recommendation passed without opposition, although Levasseur abstained.
A request to include equity as part of the city procurement process was taken off the table and was recommended as well.
Later, the Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen’s Committee on Lands and Buildings recommended a request for proposals to develop a pair of downtown parking lots into mixed-use buildings with affordable housing units.
It remains to be determined how much of the buildings’ residences will be affordable housing, with the only requirements being that they have some affordable housing, be mixed-use and have the same amount of parking spots that are at the parking lots already.
“We’re looking for creativity here, for developers to come back with proposals,” said Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig. “We have at the end of the day the right to say yes or no to a proposal.”
The recommendation passed unanimously, with Committee Chairwoman Barbara Shaw (Ward 9) stating it will be reported to the full board immediately rather than waiting the usual two weeks after concerns from Jim Roy (Ward 4) over following the customary two-week waiting procedure given that there would likely be no action on this for up to a year.
Shaw said that it was unlikely any change could occur over two weeks, with Kevin Cavanaugh (Ward 1) stating that the matter of affordable housing is a matter of urgency in the city and immediate approval by the full board was appropriate.
Also at that committee, a request to purchase a city-owned property near the intersection of South Willow Street and Queen City Avenue for the purpose of building an electronic billboard was killed, with Shaw citing the property’s role in expected changes to the intersection in the future.
