HANOVER — A proposed rental-housing ordinance — which would mandate inspections of all rental properties in town and address an “immediate and significant” need to improve overall housing safety — could come into effect as early as next year, according to Town Manager Alex Torpey.
Torpey, who began in July, is a former volunteer firefighter and one-time mayor of South Orange, N.J. He said on Monday his hope is the ordinance will prevent any potential “tragedies” from occurring because of substandard living spaces.
“We’re not trying to make anyone’s life harder for no reason,” Torpey said. “But if there is a major life-safety issue, then that’s going to have to be corrected right away.”
If approved as written, the ordinance, which is slated for a Selectboard vote on Oct. 3, would authorize inspections by the town of “non-owner-occupied dwellings” including two-family and multifamily residences where an owner may live but also rent out rooms to tenants, with the intent of establishing standards that would ensure rental units in the town are “safe, sanitary and fit for human habitation.”
Torpey said the proposed ordinance, which was a subject of discussion at a community workshop on Sept. 8 and a Selectboard meeting on Sept. 12, is a first step in addressing some of the community’s broader housing concerns.
To pass inspection, rental units would need to comply with a series of state building, life safety, and fire codes and applicable health standards. Torpey said existing rental properties will be allowed to apply for interim “Certificates of Compliance” enabling them to continue renting before initial inspections get underway.
Torpey estimated that about 1,200 rental units exist in Hanover currently.
Units that pass inspection will receive a compliance certificate good for three years, while the ordinance will require owners of rental properties found to be in violation of any codes, or unfit for human habitation, to remedy those issues ahead of a reinspection.
If the ordinance is approved, Torpey said the town will still need to draft inspection guidelines and hire an inspector along with a part-time administrator. He expects the process to last as long as six months.
Torpey said an approval of the inspection ordinance would pave the way for a short-term rental ordinance that would allow homeowners to rent out their homes through services like Airbnb, which has also been a subject of discussion in town. The town has sought public comment on the potential lifting of its ban on short-term rentals in recent years.
While Torpey believes the inspection ordinance will improve the “quality” of rental units in Hanover by increasing overall safety, he doesn’t expect it to have much of an impact on the overall quantity of housing available; the subject of housing availability is an ongoing public concern in Hanover as well as the broader Upper Valley region. According to the 2021 report from the housing-advocacy initiative Keys to the Valley, the region needs 10,000 new homes by 2030 to meet growing demand.
The Hanover Planning Board narrowly approved a zoning change at last year’s Town Meeting that established a higher-density zoning district, the Main Wheelock District, in town. But it opposed a Dartmouth College student-led petition to change the definition of “family” for zoning purposes in order to allow up to two non-related adults per bedroom in a residential-dwelling unit.
The change would’ve allowed up to twice as many tenants to live in a residence.
At the time, then-Town Manager Julia Griffin said the Planning Board was concerned that a large home could devolve into a “fraternity house” and bring unwanted trash, noise and traffic to residential neighborhoods in Hanover.
Torpey said discussions will continue in the spring, via master-plan meetings, on potentially changing housing-density rules in town that he acknowledged have been a “sticking point” for Dartmouth students over the years.
“Is this the way we want to continue doing it?” Torpey pondered. “Are there better ways to add housing units? Conversations about what we want to see in the future of housing for Hanover is probably going to be a theme for next year.”
Dartmouth student organizations have raised concerns in the past over the lack of affordable housing opportunities in town. The problem especially affects graduate students, who are not guaranteed housing in any respect while attending the college (only freshman and sophomores are guaranteed on-campus housing, though the college states 88-90% of its upperclassmen also reside in affiliated campus residences).
The Dartmouth Graduate Student Council includes housing as one of its key initiatives for the 2022-23 academic year.
At the community workshop on Sept. 8, DGSC Vice President Josephine Benson questioned whether the proposed rental-inspection ordinance could increase rental fees for tenants or be made liable for inspection fees. She noted that the council was “obviously very interested” in rental housing in Hanover.
A draft of the ordinance noted that there would be a $50 application fee and a $250 inspection, along with other possible charges for reinspections, transfer permits and replacement compliance certificates. Town officials responded that they didn’t believe there was any way landlords could pass along fees to tenants, though landlords are also allowed to set rent prices at their own discretion.
Jessika Welch, who owns and rents out a two-bedroom home on Hanover’s Lyme Road, said she’d have to consider raising rent prices for her property given the potential price of ordinance-related inspection fees totaling around $300. According to the ordinance, the cost would include $50 for the application and $250 for the inspection itself, as well as a $75 reinspection fee if the initial one fails.
Welch said utility prices, which come included for people who rent her property, have more than quadrupled since she bought the home in 2018.
New fees would also be frustrating, Welch said, because she’s already had the property inspected to make sure it’s up to code.
“I can’t just eat that (inspection fee),” Welch said.
Welch, who lives in Massachusetts, had a mixed reaction to the proposed ordinance once she heard about it. She thought inspections were a good idea to ensure students weren’t living in unsafe spaces like basements where there weren’t windows or fire exits.
But Welch also wondered why the buck was being passed to landlords like herself and not the college to provide adequate and ample housing for students.
“Dartmouth has got to take care of their housing problems,” Welch said. “… It shouldn’t be the community that has to find places for these kids.”
Rental-housing developments oriented toward student living have popped up in the Upper Valley this year. Summit by Juniper, a student-living community off Mount Support Road in neighboring Lebanon about a mile from Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, is expected to open this fall. The development, built in partnership by Dartmouth College and Michaels Student Living of Camden, N.J., has made graduate students “priority applicants” from January through May of this year.
Torpey believes finding viable solutions for increasing housing opportunities in Hanover can be made possible if stakeholders continue to stay involved.
“I’m hoping that we’re going to go into the spring and have some really nuanced and constructive conversation about housing and density,” Torpey said. “College students, high school students, homeowners, renters, property owners — every stakeholder’s got to participate in the conversation.”
The Selectboard next meets Sept. 26 at 7:30 p.m. at the town’s municipal building, 41 South Main St., when they’ll discuss whether to include a “non-compliance” penalty in the draft ordinance. Following that meeting will be a public hearing on the ordinance on Oct. 3.
Ray Couture can be reached at 1994rbc@gmail.com.