Vote No on Article 7
I have been following this issue with interest and have heard both sides of the argument. One side is the “I have lived in Hanover for a long time and little can change” argument and the other is “we have a real housing crisis that will take meaningful change” argument.
Both sides of course feel they are right and just in their efforts, however after looking at this closely, the issue with the proposed Article 7 amendment is it lacks any meaningful change. Sure they will argue that duplexes are allowed to be built but the reality is without the new set back regulations or the ability for someone to create an additional lot that can create an additional housing unit, very little will happen. The SR district is approximately 80% of the available space that can be used under current zoning laws and a yes vote for Article 7 will take that away.
This proposed amendment is basically saying that if things stay the same then things will get better but that math really does not work. The town of Hanover spent 4 years developing a plan to help with the housing crisis and with one short sighted petition, do we really want to go backward just 1 year into it? This is a repeal but without a meaningful plan and that is no way to run a town or set policy.