Delusional
Continuing the discourse on defeating Article 7, one word comes to mind for the people that voted against passing it – Delusional!
I also was very disappointed with the paper giving Will Kearney’s piece the space and prominence that it did. He is the classic NIMBY – living in a rural area.
The supporters of increased density in Hanover confuse AFFORDABLE housing with increased density. Delusion – the increased density will still have minimal prices of well over $500,000 and that is not “affordable.” It’s like saying you want to build affordable housing on Park Ave in NYC. There is no historical or current evidence that prices will come down with increased density. Subsidized housing would help, but that is a concept that is totally different and has not been discussed.
The few current applications submitted so far are really for student housing – small rooms that would not be appealing to any family unit.
The students that voted against Art 7 are delusional thinking it will solve their problems. The current (very delayed) housing projects by the College will help them by adding hundreds of new rooms. There is no evidence that the few rooms that might be added by the new zoning changes will help them nor lower prices. It will just give developers more opportunity to make money.
Instead of defeating Art 7, the town should have developed a policy to approve some test projects to see what effect they would have instead of totally changing the zoning laws for the whole town with a delusional thought process that is lacking in evidence (really no evidence) that it would accomplish the desired goals.
Hanover is a small, unique RURAL town. If you desire high density living, perhaps you should consider living in a larger city. Affordable housing is an issue that will not be solved by the new zoning laws. The town residents would be better served with a focus on subsidized housing for workers, better parking and better traffic patterns.