On December 4, 2024, the Steering Committee for the InvestNH Municipal Planning & Zoning Grant Program awarded the Town of Wilton $45,307.50 to continue work on increasing housing opportunities through community engagement and regulatory change.

A previously established Advisory Committee, which included a cross-section of town residents and community leaders, to serve as a direct link to the community, helped to develop effective public outreach efforts and review public attitudes about housing and related issues during the March 2023 Housing Opportunity Program (HOP) Grant Award or HOP 1.0.

That Advisory Committee made recommendations to the Planning Board and the Nashua Regional Planning Commission (NRPC) about strategies to encourage development of additional housing in Wilton, and provided information that could affect the practicality of implementing certain housing recommendations.

To continue this process, Wilton's Land Use Administrator participated in the Housing Academy program designed to help build and further develop local capacity as it relates to housing matters, and NRPC was selected to consult on the process.

The grant will fund assistance from NRPC to:

• Update the Town’s Master Plan chapters relating to housing;
• Audit Wilton’s Land Use Laws and Regulations to generate recommendations for changes that could facilitate desired development;
• Support in drafting proposed changes; and
• In each phase, obtain public input about the development of housing in Town.

This award as being received from the InvestNH Municipal Planning & Zoning Grant Program, is funded by the NH Department of Business and Economic Affairs as part of the $100 million InvestNH Initiative with ARPA State Fiscal Recovery funds, and will be administered jointly by NH Housing, Plan NH, and UNH Cooperative Extension.

Meetings of the Planning Board are public, and will be posted on the town calendar. All meeting minutes will be posted on the Planning Board page.