Plymouth, New Hampshire, is updating its Master Plan by adding a new component – Housing. Funded by the Housing Opportunity Planning (HOP) grant program, this project aims to provide goals and strategies for Plymouth to meet housing needs and guide future development. Our work with Plymouth builds on recent efforts by the Plymouth Planning Board to remove regulatory barriers to housing growth by updating the Town’s zoning ordinance.
A regional hub linking New Hampshire’s White Mountains and Lakes regions, Plymouth is home to a lively downtown, Plymouth State University (PSU), Speare Hospital, the Tenney Mountain ski area, and many other assets. In recent years, Plymouth’s housing market has changed. Declining enrollment at PSU has reduced the demand for off-campus housing. In addition, rising housing costs and high property taxes have diminished Plymouth’s affordability, especially for people who work in the town. Meanwhile, Plymouth is experiencing growth in demand for seasonal housing and short-term rentals.
With a grant from New Hampshire’s Housing Opportunity Program (HOP), the Plymouth Planning Board engaged Barrett Planning Group to prepare a housing needs assessment and an audit of Plymouth’s land use regulations. This work resulted in numerous recommendations to clarify Plymouth’s zoning and subdivision regulations, allowing more multifamily residential use by-right, and modernizing parking standards. Since then, the Town has implemented many of these recommendations, including new overlay districts for Fairgrounds Road and Tenney Mountain.
Today, we are working with the Planning Board to develop a new element for the Plymouth Master Plan, focusing on housing. To do this, we launched a Six-Word Story exercise to have community members share their vision of “home.” We also conducted stakeholder interviews and hosted a community meeting in March 2026. Residents explored opportunities for neighborhood-scale density, small units for young adults and seniors, and balancing housing needs with natural resources. They also noted some of the town’s challenges, notably the lack of developable land and the cost of infrastructure and utilities. The new Housing section of Plymouth’s Master Plan will draw from community input, data, geographic analysis, and consultations with the Planning Board.
In a related project, Plymouth is concurrently planning a Community Design Charette in May 2026 for Railroad Square: a street between its downtown center and the Pemigewasset River with a mix of different buildings and activities. Prior to the 1950s, the adjacent railroads connected Montreal and Boston via Plymouth. Today, only a tourist train runs through in the summer, though the area still has some activity with the nearby senior center, outdoor amphitheater, skate park, and Main Street shops. This two-day charette, organized by PlanNH, will ask community members to reimagine what this space could be.
For more information on Plymouth’s upcoming Housing Chapter visit: https://www.plymouthnh.gov/projects/housing_chapter.php
To learn more about PlanNH’s Community Design Charette visit: https://www.plymouthnh.gov/departments/railroad_square.php
