Author Archives: GSF

Commuter Rail: NH’s Dangerous Proposition

The NH House Public Works and Highways Committee gave an “OTP” recommendation to SB 241 along party lines.

No Republicans voted with the Democrat agenda to bankrupt NH with a massively costly proposition to extend the MBTA to Concord when it has been proven that only 97% or so of the population would actually use it. These trains would not be of the ‘high speed’ type, but the debt-ridden MBTA out of Massachusetts that averages 33-44MPH on any trip to Boston.

Next step is the full NH House of Representatives will vote… then it’s up to the Governor to VETO SB 241 if that passes.

The BRA is keeping track of this bill as well as other bills that are part of the New Urbanism/Agenda21 fad that would hurt NH. You can see the other bills on BRA’s Bill Watch page.

Read more about SB 241, the bill to expand the MBTA to Concord…

Tell the NH Senate: Remove SB 306 From the Budget!

Every NH municipality and the voters that direct them should be concerned.

When John Lynch was governor, he created a commission to address a phony “water crisis”. Now, some are using a manufactured “housing crisis” to promote the proliferation of “high-density” construction.

Last December we sounded the alarm about HB 104, a bill that would have given a state-level appeals board the right to override the decisions of local boards with regard to land use. The NH House rightfully dispensed with this bill in committee. The Union Leader, a major newspaper, agreed.

Along comes SB 306 in the NH Senate sponsored by Republican Senators Giuda, Carson, Bradley and Representative Hinch along with several Democrats. SB 306 proposes a similar state “board of appeals” with even more draconian power over municipalities, and a $400K price tag to boot! Word has it that the NH Senate has tabled the bill and instead, is planning to include it into the budget they are preparing for the end of May. This budget will then be presented to the House to see if they will concur.

According to the actual wording of the bill, sweeping authority would be given to a 3-member board as follows:

679:5 Authority; Duties.

I. It shall be the duty of the board and it shall have power and authority to hear and affirm, reverse, or modify, in whole or in part, appeals of final decisions of municipal boards, committees, and commissions regarding questions of housing and housing development. This includes, but is not limited to:

(a) Planning board decisions on subdivisions or site plans.

(b) Board of adjustment decisions on variances, special exceptions, administrative appeals, and ordinance administration.

(c) The use of innovative land use controls.

(d) Growth management controls and interim growth management controls.

(e) Decisions of historic district commissions, heritage commissions, and conservation commissions.

(f) Other municipal permits and fees applicable to housing and housing developments.

(g) Matters subject to the board’s authority may include mixed-use combinations of residential and nonresidential uses. Such different uses may occur on separate properties, provided such properties are all part of a common scheme of development.

As you can see, this overreaching provision would basically nullify the vote of the townspeople; taxpayers who have given their boards direction for what should happen in their own towns. Planning, zoning, historic, heritage, conservation, ALL commissions are affected in that SB 306 will allow developers to OVERRIDE those directions using this 3-member state ‘board of appeals’!

This dangerous provision must be stopped. If allowed to be included, would be a blatant power grab and a direct attack on every municipality’s right to direct its own future. It nullifies the vote of the people.

Write to the full NH Senate and let them know you will not tolerate this power grab at the state level. Write to the full House and ask they demand this provision be removed from any budget they are asked to approve.

Local control is at stake.

References:

Bill Text HB 104:
http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/bill_status/billText.aspx?sy=2019&id=11&txtFormat=html

Bill Text SB 306:
http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/bill_status/billText.aspx?id=989&txtFormat=html&sy=2019

2019 NHMA Bulletin #6 – Page 3:
https://www.nhmunicipal.org/Resources/LegislativeBulletin/176

Letter Seacoast Online
Land use boards beware of Senate Bill 306
May 8, 2019
https://www.seacoastonline.com/news/20190508/land-use-boards-beware-of-senate-bill-306

High-density is the Bolshevik model to fix the fake housing crisis (9 mins)
https://youtu.be/pcuIcfBwhTg

Monadnock Region Invaded by Urbanism

To the Editor;

The Southwest Region Planning Commission (SWRPC) says it will host five focus group meetings over the next month-plus to develop a “better understanding of the needs of all age groups in the Monadnock region”.

The Southwest Regional Planning Commission is not telling you the full truth about where this program originated. It is a push by the UN, the World Health Association and in conjunction with the AARP (all unelected and unaccountable private groups) to “urbanize” your rural town under the guise of making it more “livable”.

The bottom line is, it just means they want to build more “stack’n’pack” housing and begin “citifying” your rural areas. Many of those areas will become off limits to single-family homes.

Make no mistake… this is part of a bigger agenda known as Agenda2, revised title Agenda2030.

Question the legality of calling in these private unelected and unaccountable groups who will conduct these input sessions that very few people will attend. Make no mistake, but the conclusions gathered from the “data” will be and are already pre-determined. The UN/WHO are using the AARP, private groups like Tufts, and through your RPC will impose their control on every aspect of your lives — “housing, transportation, employment, social engagement, and civic participation” per their words. They want to control where you live, work, and how you travel and communicate and participate. They even want to control your social life. Very few people will take or even see their “surveys” which will be a carbon copy of what was presented in other towns.

“SWRPC would like to get another grant so they can work with some communities individually on specific strategies to implement changes”. You bet they want to “help”. But we doubt anyone in those towns asked for help.

“We don’t want to see an unhealthy balance,” Murphy said. What right do these outside organizations have to determine what is and isn’t a “healthy balance” regarding who lives where, and how?

“…finding out how to maintain and attract the younger population” simply means financial incentives to new graduates (SB 12), and low income housing, in the form of apartment buildings cluttering up your beautiful landscape. Every manufactured “need” will be used as an excuse.

Please visit our website to learn the shocking implications of this push and see how the residents of Bedford fought “new urbanism” and won.

Jane Aitken, Founder
603.471.0138
www.bedfordresidents.com

Note: Conversations will take place on May 16 at the Winchester Town Hall, May 22 at the Antrim Town Hall, May 30 at Whitcomb Hall in Swanzey, June 3 at the Jaffrey Town Office, and June 5 at the Walpole Town Hall.

Legislation Attacking Local Control in NH

There are quite a few NH bills in the works that would raise your taxes as well as take away the right of local control… but nothing more egregious than SB 306 and what some sneaky NH Senators are doing to get it enacted.

Among these bills seeking to levy taxes to award millennials for staying in the state, skimming more taxes to fund “workforce housing”, and bills to award tax credits to private developers, there is this most inappropriate proposal — to establish a “housing appeals board” at the state level so that developers not granted permits for their projects can override those local decisions.

Read about SB 306 here:

Seacoast Online

There are several more “Agenda2030” bills here on this page as well. You can read more about SB 306 and the rest, there.

Commuter Rail: Drilling Down on Demand, Cost and Quality of Life

No one we know wants this, but nevertheless they are doubling down on efforts to promote it. Click the graphic for a larger view…

commuter_rail_map

“In 2014 the NH DOT released a detailed analysis of proposed options for bringing rail to the NH Capitol Corridor. The preferred first step would be to extend the existing Boston-Lowell commuter rail line to Nashua and Manchester. A future project would extend the line to Concord. The Manchester Regional Commuter Rail line would run 8 round trips between Manchester and Boston and 17 to Nashua.”

“SB 241 is currently in the House Public Works and Highways Committee. Manchester State Representative Joshua Query, who participated in the discussion with Klobuchar and sits on that committee, is optimistic that it will receive a positive recommendation from them. It will also need to go through the finance committee before it passes through the NH House and arrives on the desk of Governor Sununu.”

Interesting to note that SB 241 is one of the bills Bedford’s taxpayers would like to see squashed, citing the fact that “Trains are old technology and usually a taxpayer boondoggle. Not only that, their installation encourages Transit-Oriented Development (TOD), which translated means more “stack’n’pack” housing.”

Read more…

Zoning Amendment Could Change, Repeal Overlay Districts

Some residents of Peterborough don’t want to see their town turned into a city.
Good for them!

This article is instructive for everyone in NH.

“The rules of the Traditional Neighborhood Overlay Zone II were adopted in May of 2017, with the intent of “allow[ing] for higher density and infilling of lots and additional residential housing in close proximity to the currently developed areas of town…” according to the zoning ordinance.

The ordinance allows single-family, two-family, or multi-family dwellings, up to a maximum of 10 dwelling units per building.”

Trump, the UN, and the Arms Treaty

There was much hoopla surrounding Trump’s supposed withdrawal from the the UN Arms Treaty. But are Americans being hoodwinked by mere theatre?

The US Senate never ratified this treaty in the first place!

And in fact, UN Agenda2030 has as one of its goals, complete disarmament.

Why then has Trump administration funded Agenda2030 more than anyone, at any time in history? (see paragraph 5 in link)

More pablum for the masses? And what about those Heritage Sites, tho?

Independence Hall Now Owned by the UN?

Imagine going to visit “the birthplace of America – where the ideals of freedom, liberty, independence, etc. were enshrined – only to find that these symbols have been watered down, transferred, or stolen, and subsumed into a “global vision” that lacks substance, sovereignty or liberty of any kind.

And yes, U.S. of A. is a “republic” not a “democracy” in the first place – but the powers that be are replacing either/both of those anyway…

The United Nations takeover of United States’ landmarks is sending a clear message to newer generations – that the days of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, independence, and the like are somehow gone – magically evaporated in the wake of a new world order that no one voted for, only a tiny elite few championed, and yet everyone is supposed to yield and submit to.”

Direct Link: https://youtu.be/zQIJf3gmsDQ

The UN has declared that “World Heritage sites belong to all the peoples of the world, irrespective of the territory on which they are located.”

Secretary Carson Has Heard Us

From American Policy Center…

Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson has heard us!

He has taken steps to roll back at least some of the worst components of the Obama-era attacks on private property and federal overreach.

Specifically, HUD announced that it is withdrawing use of a computer assessment tool that maps every single neighborhood to gauge if the community is in compliance with “fair housing” grant rules.

This “tool,” enforced by HUD, has made every community which applies for its grants to complete an “Assessment of Fair Housing,” using its computer program – or “assessment tool” to identify all “contributing factors” to housing discrimination.

The information to be gathered includes a complete breakdown of race, income levels, religion, and national origin of every single person living in the community.

HUD then uses this information to determine if the neighborhood meets a preset “balance,” determined by HUD.

Second, HUD has demanded a detailed plan showing how the community intends to eliminate the “contributing factors” to this supposed “imbalance.”

The community is then obligated to do this assessment every five years!

To produce the community’s plan for compliance, HUD rules demand that a wide array of “interested parties” participate in its creation. Guess who they are?!! Planners. Civic activist organizations. Affordable housing developers.

In short – all the people who have a stake in gaining political power or big bucks from the grant programs.

This is nothing but social engineering of every neighborhood in America.

Remember, just a few weeks ago I warned of cities like Minneapolis and the state of Oregon taking steps to eliminate zoning protections for single family homes. That assault on private property is a direct result of the HUD AFFH regulations. The goal is to eventually force everyone into stack and pack high rise apartments in the name of Sustainable Development Smart Growth.

It is the destruction pf private property rights and property values. And it is a ploy by the federal government to dictate policy over local office holders.

Secretary Carson is trying to take action to roll back this outrageous federal overreach leftover from Obama and restore private property protection.

Secretary Carson knows that the only true fair housing is private property in which the owner is able to build personal wealth. That is the only true way to eliminate poverty – not social engineering that damages the rights and futures of everyone!

But those powerful Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) like the National Fair Housing Alliance are outraged and have filed a law suit to stop Carson.

Two months ago, when Secretary Carson asked for public comment on his plans to roll back the AFFH rule, APC submitted 1,000s of comments from our supporters opposing the very existence of the rule.

He heard us. He is trying. But he is being blocked every step of the way by those socialist forces who are determined to destroy the very existence of private property along with your ability to choose where and how you want to live.

According to these social engineers, for you to live in a home of your choosing is now racist and a social injustice!

My American Policy Center (APC) is one of the only groups in the nation fighting for the protection of private property.

I am sounding the alarm.

I am teaching local activists how to fight back.

I am reaching out to local and state officials to warn them of the trap if they accept these grants.

If you would like to support Tom DeWeese’s efforts, you can donate here.