HOUSING RESEARCH PROJECT
Additional Information and Resources
Harrisville’s Housing Research Project 2024. View the complete Housing Research Project Report, published in March 2025.
Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) Public Report (2023)
This Public Report is based on an assessment of all 35 towns in the southwest region of New Hampshire, managed and conducted by our regional planning commission in Keene, NH, Southwestern Regional Planning Commission.
Read the initial two page Executive Summary in the Public Report to be oriented to a comprehensive set of discussions and analyses on housing related topics, e.g., demographics and housing unit trends, workforce and affordable housing data, affordable housing choice barriers and opportunities, fair housing challenges and successes; resources for meeting local housing needs.
Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHMA) Data Appendix
This document houses the quantitative and qualitative data upon which the RHNA Public Report is based: extensive demographic statistics and survey data taken from all 35 towns in the region.
Development, usually involving housing, is regulated by conditions in Harrisville’s zoning ordinances. This document defines seven various zones or districts throughout the town, each with specific conditions and restraints. These conditions determine the size, placement and nature of housing within each district. The following group of maps shows clearly where the ordinances specify housing may be constructed and where it may not.
The ZONING MAP shows the outlines and placement of each district.
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Many landowners have placed their land in Current Use, which is a designation allowing a lower tax rate in exchange for preserving open land. Current Use land may be removed at the owner’s request but a penalty must be paid to the town to compensate for the time when the taxes were lower. Most properties in Current Use as well as those in Conservation are accessible to the public for outdoor recreation activities.
Land placed in Conservation is generally registered with and monitored by a land trust. Two familiar land trusts in Harrisville are The Monadnock Conservancy and The Harris Center. Once land is accepted into the conservation status, it remains there in perpetuity.
CURRENT USE AND CONSERVATION LANDS MAP
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Some land has either geographical features such as steep slopes or wetlands, or is in Conservation, all of which could prevent any housing development on the land.
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The Aquifer Map shows any areas in town where a significant aquifer exists; the largest is in Eastview near Jaquith & Hancock Roads. Any development over an aquifer must take care about drainage and leaching not only on the property, but also on the entire course of the aquifer.
