'Affordable' housing is more than just the price: Letters

'Affordable' housing is more than just the price

March 25 − To the Editor:

Jim’s Splaine’s recent piece about affordability related to housing was excellent and pointed out the very real notion that what is affordable to some may not be for others.

Another aspect of creating new places to live – not just in Portsmouth, but everywhere – is consideration of the needs of people beyond affordability.  Location needs are important, yes.  However, design needs for places to live should be factored in more than they appear to be now:  not just the design of the living space itself, but also the overall design of the complex or subdivision.

While there are myriad needs and elements to think about, two come to mind as particularly important:  design of places to live for older adults and/or people with mobility challenges (NOT “senior housing”) and design of places to support social connections.

When we sold our home in Portsmouth three years ago, we knew we wanted to find a place that had one-floor living, or at least potential for that (ie, for a bedroom on the first floor).  We looked at older homes and new ones.  The older ones needed too much work for our budget.  The newer ones were great – except that many with one-floor-living design had the first floor above the garage, meaning a flight of stairs (outside or in or both) to get to the living area.   We could manage that now, but knew that it could become an issue within a few years.  We get that having the garage under everything else means a smaller footprint and is efficient – but not for us.  We found a place in Dover with only two steps into the main living area, which includes two bedrooms, a sunny living-dining area and kitchen. Even the laundry is right there.

However, the downside is that, like many new subdivisions that have the garage on the same level as the first floor, the garage is the front of the house footprint, and the main entryway is tucked next to it and back.  So if we sit in the “front” of our house near the entryway, we can only see part of the street, as the garage blocks the view of the rest.  Same with all the other neighbors on our side – we could all be sitting out and not know it, as our garages block the views.  And looking at subdivision plans and images of existing ‘hoods, I see this over and over.

Most of us crave community, and we know that isolation and loneliness are considered an epidemic now, with serious health implications .  When we lived in Portsmouth, I sat on my porch almost every evening when it was warm enough, and could see people and chat and be part of it all.  Plans I see published in this paper and elsewhere for proposed new neighborhoods of single-family homes are for the most part not designed for connecting with others. No front porches, gages that block street views … and having living on the second floor is not as conducive to connecting with neighbors, even with a porch up there.

I encourage planners and developers to really think about who needs what as homes and places are designed going forward – starting with the people who are already in the community.   One-floor living with wide doorways other accessibility designs should be common, whether single-family, detached homes or in multi-plexes.   Front porches with wide views of the neighborhood should be standard, even in multi-family buildings. (Bonus:  all looking out onto a green, with road and garage behind the house or building).

Having dozens of nice-looking places – even if affordable – is great, but how many people are still left out, and what are these new places doing, collectively, to bring people together?  We could all benefit.

Robin H. LeBlanc

Dover

Conditions on Downtown development intentionally ignored

March 23 − To the Editor:

A 1200+ square foot expansion to an overwater commercial deck with a small slice for public space was approved Thursday night. The capacity at 99 Bow Street is already busting at the seams with an overflow of trash, grease traps blocked, traffic congestion, noise and smoking on Bow Street and the city approved another expansion.  Again, the City bows to the developer.

When will the city put a stop to development that adversely affects abutting property owners and the environment?

Applause to Jayne Begala and James Hewitt for being the only two Planning Board members courageous enough to say NO! opposing the application, along with the Conservation Commission and initially NH DES.  We appreciate your attempts to balance the commercial, residential and environmental concerns without requiring property owners to again yield to developers.

During the meeting, it appeared more might deny the plan when three other board members, Chellman, Moreau and Almeida mentioned their own experiences about how difficult it is to live downtown, but each still approved this application.  Yes, you read that right.  Three noted the difficulties that people living downtown face, but then approved this plan even though it makes the problems on Bow Street markedly worse. 

This approval is all the more insidious considering that when the Martingale was built in 2007 it received numerous variances (notice the enormous width and height in comparison to its historic neighbors).  The original deck was a compromise.  The City allowed it because the developer promised that it would NEVER request further deck expansion. This promise is in the original plan.  It is in the meeting minutes.  We have raised it with City Boards multiple times — including this Planning Board meeting — this developer has requested to expand its deck multiple times since.  Both the developer and the City have just ignored the promise to not further expand. 

The expansion adversely affects neighbors (including the Piscataqua River and shore land) with increased noise, lighting, trash, grease, traffic congestion, and smoke.  Each time we raise these concerns — and we have over the years many times — the Boards say, these are issues for the City’s enforcement departments.  We then communicate the problems to the enforcement employees.  The problems continue because the owners say they will fix the problems, but don’t.  It appears enforcement just can’t keep up with the development the Boards are approving.

This project allegedly includes a “public” deck on the waterfront. When trying to find it, look for the “Public Deck” signs at 99 Bow Street that are an express condition of this approved expansion. This is your, the public’s, space!  Bring your beach chairs, your fishing poles, your friends & family, and your protest signs.  When the business directs you to move to create space for its customers, politely respond the same way they addressed the Board with the problem directing its tenants & employees to smoke in front of our neighboring historic wood building, “It’s public property.”

Katy Eveland Sherman

Portsmouth

A cease-fire is not peace

March 25 − To the Editor:

We’ve heard a lot of talk about an imminent cease fire in Gaza, rehashed in today’s paper. But it remains elusive because of several Hamas demands, not just Israel’s determination to eliminate their remaining brigades in Rafah. Two demands Israel seems poised to accept, according to today’s paper. Non-combatants may return to Northern Gaza even though fighting with armed militants is still ongoing there. The other is an exchange of 700 to 1000 Palestinian prisoners for just 40 of the 100 +/- hostages that remain alive, leaving 60 +/- behind, for now. The third Hamas demand is that Israel not only stop the military campaign, but that they withdraw all troops from Gaza so that Hamas is restored to it’s position on October 6 and their capability of launching more attacks like that of October 7. It’s time now for those here in America, in New Hampshire and in Portsmouth who have been clamoring for a ceasefire to demand that Hamas also accept a cease fire, not just Israel. That means that the fighting stops for the sake of alleviating the suffering of non-combatants, not a reversal of Hamas’s military setbacks. And release of ALL the hostages.

And consider this. A cease fire is not peace. That can only come when Jews and Arabs find a way to live alongside each other, harmoniously, from the river to the sea. A tall ask at the moment, but it’s the only way.

Also discussed in today’s article was financial support to the relief organization UNWRA, or lack thereof. We hear repeatedly the narrative that just twelve UNWRA employees out of 30,000 participated in the October 7 attack, and they’ve been fired, so what’s the big deal. First off, they should have been arrested not fired. More importantly, this narrative omits the fact that a major, high tech Hamas command center was underneath the basement of UNWRA headquarters and inextricably linked to it. UNRWA provided Hamas with power and utilities including internet services. Who could possibly believe that the affiliation between the UN and Hamas’s military operations was limited to twelve people who have been fired? Given that, the US must find a more trustworthy means to get food and aid to the people who are suffering, not to Hamas fighters. Building a pier for seaborne deliveries, which the US Navy is doing at President Biden’s directive, is a step in the right direction.

Jeffrey Cooper

Portsmouth

Kelly Ayotte is worthiest candidate for NH veterans

March 22 − To the Editor:

Kelly Ayotte emerges as the worthiest candidate for our veterans. Kelly comes from a military family. Her husband, Joe served as an A-10 Warthog pilot, and her daughter is a Cadet at the United States Air Force Academy. Kelly understands the importance of supporting our veterans and their families.

While in the United States Senate, Kelly served on the Armed Services Committee and chaired the Subcommittee on Readiness. She fought tirelessly for the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and secured KC-46A air refueling tanker for New Hampshire's 157th Air Refueling Wing, adding innovation to an extremely important cog in the New England military infrastructure.

Kelly also has a deep understanding of veteran healthcare. She has advocated for expanded access to non-VA providers and improved services for those with traumatic brain injuries. Her efforts to address healthcare disparities extend statewide, ensuring veterans in every corner of New Hampshire receive the care they deserve.

Kelly has a goal of making New Hampshire the most veteran-friendly state in the nation. She will work with the VA, the State Department of Military Affairs, Service Organizations, and nonprofits to get veterans everything they need to transition and enjoy the Live Free or Die State.

With tens of thousands of veterans residing in New Hampshire, Kelly offers hope and relief for those who have served our nation. She’ll be a friend to all veterans, modernizing our veteran services and offering more to those that have sacrificed so much. I ask all veterans to join me in supporting Kelly on her path to become to next Governor of the Granite State.

Mike Coutu

USMC & Vietnam veteran

Rye Beach

US should include coffins in its aid to Gaza

March 21 − To the Editor:

It seems only right that the Biden Administration should make a positive gesture to compensate for its complicity in the deaths of 32,000 people in Gaza. Unfortunately, no amount of money – even the billions of dollars the US has spent supplying weaponry – can bring the dead back to life. Still, there must be something we can do.

What about providing coffins, gratis?

Since the Israeli state chokes off deliveries of aid by land, the coffins must be delivered by air and by sea. They could be inscribed, “A gift of the US government, Joseph R. Biden, president.” Unfortunately there wouldn’t be room to list all of sponsors – I’m thinking of Senators Hassan and Shaheen – but they’d know that they contributed.

William Castle

Portsmouth

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: 'Affordable' housing is more than just the price: Letters