Somersworth Zoning Audit Implementation Project

Project Overview

SRPC has been selected to conduct outreach for and draft changes to the City of Somersworth’s zoning ordinance. SRPC previously completed a Zoning Audit for the City in 2024. This Audit produced three recommended priority actions the City could take to implement needed zoning adjustments. The creation of “missing middle” housing and streamlining the process to accomplish this was identified as a priority of the community in the outreach done for the housing chapter of the city’s Master Plan in 2023 and again for the Audit in 2024. Zoning changes are one of several tools available to cities to accomplish this.

The priority actions recommended were:

• Rearrange zoning districts to establish the Form Based Code districts as the base zoning.
• Recategorize multifamily structures to add 3- and 4-unit structures and 5- to 10-unit structures.
• Allow Planned Unit Development (PUD) housing options along the Route 108 corridor.

The outreach for this effort coincided with that of the City’s master plan updates through 2025 and 2026. See project page for details. There was a survey and community forum that both sought input on “missing middle” types of housing for the City. As with the Audit, SRPC is utilizing the Mayor of Somersworth’s Housing Task Force as an advisory group to the zoning update process. SRPC will utilize community feedback to begin drafting updates for consideration by the City’s Planning Board, with adoption occurring in summer or fall 2026.

The housing chapter of the master plan, the zoning audit, and this implementation effort were all completed under the Housing Opportunity Planning (HOP) grant program administered by the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority (NHHFA).

Outreach Summary and How to Get Involved

A combined community survey was open from September 1 to November 1, 2025 for both this zoning effort and the major master plan update. The survey, hosted on the platform SurveyMonkey, asked for input on images of various housing types as well as long-term visions for some corridors and key commercial areas of the city.

The master plan updates are to the Vision, Transportation, Economic Development, and Historic & Cultural Resources chapters. If you are a business owner or own a historic property, you may have heard from project team on these master plan efforts in addition to this zoning project.

The Mayor’s Housing Task Force meetings are open to the public. These meetings are coordinated by the City of Somersworth. The Task Force’s webpage will have more information about the meeting schedule or you may reach out to the City Clerk.