Latest News
 

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Planning Lunches at Noon Monthly Webinar Series
The next webinar in the NH Office of Planning and Development (OPD) Planning Lunches at Noon (PLAN) Monthly Webinar Series is “Congratulations, you’re a Board Member Now! What’s Next?” on Thursday April 20, 2023, from 12 to 1:00 P.M.

Please join Stephanie N. Verdile, a Principal Planner for the OPD who will provide introductory and procedural information about the basics of planning and zoning before discussing the purpose and role of planning and zoning boards. Stephanie will also provide a dictionary of terms to help you navigate the often-used planning and zoning acronyms as well as tips on how to be a good board member. This webinar is for new board members as well as seasoned members that are interested in a refresher course. There will also be time for questions and answers at the end of the webinar.

Registration for this webinar is open. Please register by filling out this webinar registration form. You will receive a confirmation email from Microsoft Teams, which will include an attached calendar meeting that can be saved to your calendar (you may need to check your spam folder).

Can’t make it? This webinar will be recorded and posted to the NH Office of Planning and Development YouTube Page.

Information including links to previous webinar slides, recordings, handouts and resources can be found at: https://www.nh.gov/osi/planning/planning-training.htm.

For assistance or if you have any questions, please e-mail planning@livefree.nh.gov.

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NH Planners Association Spring Conference
As the NHPA Executive Committee prepares for its Spring Conference, the submission period for sessions and annual award nominations is now open.

Session submissions or topic ideas should be sent to nhplanners@gmail.com. Topic ideas may be high level, but if you are submitting a session please include who (if anyone) would be presenting with you, and a brief synopsis of what you would be covering. Sessions run an hour long. See the agenda from the 2022 conference for context, if helpful.

For NHPA's annual awards program, the Executive Committee seeks: citizen planner of the year, professional planner of the year, project of the year, and plan of the year. Read the details and qualifications online and feel free to reference the previous years' award winners on the NHPA website.

To submit an award nomination: 2023 Awards Nomination Form.pdf.

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Land & Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP)
 
Since 2001, LCHIP has proudly awarded $54 million dollars to 364 organizations in 195 communities across New Hampshire to conserve and preserve New Hampshire's most important natural, cultural, and historic resources. These types of grants are as follows:
 
Preservation Planning Grants
To support the study of eligible historic resources.
 
Historic Rehabilitation Grants
To support the restoration or rehabilitation of eligible historic resources.
 
Natural Resource Acquisition Grants
To support the permanent protection of ecologically significant lands.
 
An organization applying for LCHIP funding must be either a municipality or other political subdivision of the State of New Hampshire, or be a publicly supported nonprofit corporation exempt from federal income tax under section 501 (c) of the Internal Revenue Code. Other interested parties may partner or work with an eligible organization or government entity but may not apply directly through LCHIP.
 
Grant Round 22 will open in 2023!
 
APPLICATION PROCESS
Prospective applicants must submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) through LCHIP’s online grant management portal (Grant Lifecycle Manager) in May 2023. 
 
LCHIP staff will review the information provided for compliance with LCHIP’s eligibility criteria and respond within five business days. All eligible projects will be invited to submit a complete proposal in June 2023. 
 
The proposal and required documentation are also submitted through LCHIP’s online grant management portal. Detailed instructions on how to complete the application and additional guidance materials are provided within the portal.

A Review Panel comprised of experts in various elements of natural and historic resource conservation will review all proposals and conduct site visits to project sites in order to gain a better understanding of each project. The Review Panels provide recommendations to the Board of Directors, which is responsible for making the final funding decisions.

Each organization receiving an LCHIP award is required to enter into a Project Agreement with LCHIP. The Project Agreement summarizes the obligations of the Grant Recipient and LCHIP, and outlines the project’s scope, structure and purpose as understood by LCHIP. To accept an LCHIP Award, an authorized representative of the recipient organization must sign and return the Project Agreement by the established deadline.

If a proposal is not funded, a representative of the applicant organization will be invited to meet with LCHIP staff to discuss the project and proposal. The goal of these meetings is to assist applicants to identify ways in which the project or proposal could be strengthened in the future. There is no prohibition against resubmitting an improved proposal for the project in future LCHIP grant rounds.
 
Click here for a list of FAQ’s about funding and grants.
 

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NH OPD Live Virtual Conference
   
The OPD is seeking abstracts on any topic related to planning or zoning that focus on providing municipal board members and staff with information or guidance on planning and zoning regulations, topics, processes, or procedures.
 
To propose a conference session please click here to complete a form.  Forms are due by Friday, January 20, 2023 and decisions will be made after February 1, 2023.
 
All sessions will be recorded and later published on their website and YouTube channel.  Each session will be about an hour and fifteen minutes long including Q&A.  The conference will be free for everyone.
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Please note: monthly webinars (also called Planning Lunches at Noon (PLAN)) are conducted every third Thursday from 12 pm to 1 pm to learn more about various planning and zoning topics.  To view upcoming webinars, click here.

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LRPC Annual Meeting | 2022 Annual Awards
 

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Congratulations to our 2022 Preservation Achievement Award Winners!

Nine rescue, rehabilitation, and revitalization projects and two outstanding leaders of the preservation movement were unveiled on May 3. The 2022 Preservation Alliance's Preservation Achievement Award winners include the preservation of rare and iconic properties, stewardship of community assets and gathering places, and community development successes.

"It is wonderful for us to have the opportunity to honor people who are making a difference in communities across the state," said Nicholas Mitchell, Chairman of the Preservation Alliance Board of Directors. "These are the kinds of places we can't imagine New Hampshire without," said Jennifer Goodman, Executive Director of the Preservation Alliance, "and we hope these awards help inspire more preservation activity."
Click here to learn more.

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The Planning Board in New Hampshire: A Handbook for Local Officials (updated 2021)
The Board of Adjustment in New Hampshire: A Handbook for Local Officials (updated 2021)

2021 editions of the Office of Strategic Initiatives's (OSI) handbooks for Planning and Zoning Boards are now available. Designed to serve as introductions to the organization, powers, duties, and procedures of Planning Boards and Zoning Boards of Adjustment in New Hampshire, these guides will acquaint board members and others with the basic board responsibilities of each and suggest procedures by which the work of the boards can be carried out in a fair and effective manner.

Visit the OSI website where you can view additional planning and zoning publications.

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USDA Launches Resource Guide on Building a Recreation Economy

July 2020 — USDA has launched a Recreation Economy Resource Guide to provide rural community leaders and economic development practitioners a complete list of programs at Rural Development, Forest Service, and National Institute for Food and Agriculture that can be used to support recreational economies in rural America. 

The guide addresses key factors necessary to build a sustainable recreational economy including natural resource management, conservation activities, infrastructure investment, business development and more.

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New Hampshire Broadband Impact Survey

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Headwaters Economics Toolset

Economic Profile System

In 2017 we were introduced to the Headwaters Economics Toolset. Using these report generators you can download socioeconomic reports of communities, counties, and states, including aggregations and comparisons. The Economic Profile System (EPS) uses federal data sources, including the Bureaus of Economic Analysis, Census, & others. EPS is also known as the Human Dimensions Toolkit by the Forest Service. Try it yourself here.

We'd like to thank UNH Cooperative Extension for providing us reports for all of the towns in the Lakes Region. Click the links below to view the reports. They will also be available on the towns' pages.

Please note: This information changes frequently. These reports were generated on July 14, 2017. For more up-to-date information, please use the tool to generate your own reports.
 

Alexandria	Hebron
Alton	Hill
Andover	Holderness
Ashland	Laconia
Barnstead	Meredith
Belmont	Moultonborough
Bridgewater	New Hampton
Bristol	Northfield
Center Harbor	Ossipee
Danbury	Sanbornton
Effingham	Sandwich
Franklin	Tamworth
Freedom	Tilton
Gilford	Tuftonboro
Gilmanton	Wolfeboro

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