Nashua’s Affordable Housing Act and the Mohawk Tannery Project

In December 2021, the City passed an Inclusionary Zoning ordinance (O-21-073) to require all new developments to provide a specified number of affordable housing units within the development.

In January 2023, The Board of Alderman held a special meeting to discuss the development of the EPA Superfund Mohawk Tannery property. The City, in conjunction with Blaylock Holdings, Thorndike Development, the New Hampshire Business Development Authority and the Nashua Housing and Redevelopment Authority are working collectively to create the financing to stabilize and cap the Superfund site and build 500+ units of rental and single-family homes. Public input has not been accepted on this development as of yet.

The presentation was well done, but many questions remained and a clear picture of the financing and taxpayer commitment was not available. The presentation can be viewed on YouTube at:

According to the Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance, for a development of this size, 20% of the units must be affordable (approximately 100 units of affordable housing) However, the Nashua Community Development Director Sullivan stated that the 20% could only be fulfilled in the rental properties, which would mean only 38 units would be affordable. The City would be waiving the remaining units required for ordinance compliance and, instead, would accept a payment in lieu for the remaining 65 properties. This was a bit confusing as to why this was acceptable. It appears that the City will accept a payment of ~2 million dollars to forfeit the affordable housing requirement.

No one on the Board questioned this. Alderwoman Kelley, a champion of Nashua’s Affordable Housing Act, was silent. What is the liability risk to granting this waiver to one developer and not the next who might have extenuating circumstances. The Housing market and economy have shifted. Does this changing economic picture warrant a review of the newly adopted ordinance? There were no questions by the board to City Council on the ramifications and liability of waiving the law.

The City needs to further explain what options are available to increase the number of affordable homes in this project. It’s a bad look that could result in a costly liability to violate a newly adopted ordinance for projects coming forward.