By Rhianwen Watkins, Granite State News Collaborative

There are nine regional planning commissions across New Hampshire, responsible for assisting with and providing resources for community development projects in member municipalities.

It is not mandatory for every municipality to be a part of a regional planning commission, but over 90 percent of the state’s 234 towns and cities participate in one. 

Support from planning commissions may include helping municipalities create master plans, creating inventories of local natural resources, finding funds for transportation and infrastructure developments, helping cities and towns secure funding from state and federal grant programs, and much more.

They hold hold three main areas of expertise:

 • Data management and development, which includes Geographic Information Systems and their work as an affiliate of the U.S. Census Data Center.

  • Providing land use, environmental planning  and community development services to member towns and cities. Those services include overseeing master plans, zoning ordinances and land regulations, environmental planning, economic planning  and emergency management planning, which includes hazard mitigation in communities.

  • Transportation planning and technical assistance, which includes creating and maintaining plans for different forms of transportation in the region. Transit analysis, technical assistance and other measures contribute to this.

In addition, each regional planning commission is required, by New Hampshire statute, to create a regional comprehensive plan, conduct a housing needs assessment and review significant economic developments that could have an impact on the region.

The housing needs assessment –  a tool used in understanding what the housing crisis looks like in different regions across the state –  outlines recommendations and resources for addressing the issue, based on what makes sense for each region

Every town or city that is a member, is allowed two, three or four  representatives in the planning commission, depending on the size of the municipality’s population.

Representatives are nominated by the planning board of each town or city, and appointed by the municipal officer.

The nine regional planning commissions are: 

 • The North Country Council,, whose region consists of 50 communities and 25 unincorporated places in the northern third of New Hampshire.

• The Lakes Region Planning Commission, which covers 31 communities across four counties – parts of Belknap, Carroll, Grafton and Merrimack counties.

• Upper Valley Lake Sunapee Regional Planning Commission, which covers 27 municipalities in Grafton, Sullivan and Merrimack counties.

 • Southwest Region Planning Commission, whose region is made up of 34 towns and cities in Cheshire, Hillsborough and Sullivan counties.

 • Central New Hampshire Regional Planning Commission, which serves 20 communities surrounding Concord in Merrimack and Hillsborough counties.

 •   Southern New Hampshire Planning Commission, which serves 14 communities around Manchester. 

 • Nashua Regional Planning Commission, which works with 13 communities surrounding Nashua.

 • Rockingham Planning Commission, which serves 27 communities in Rockingham County.

 • Strafford Regional Planning Commission, which serves 17 communities, most of them in Strafford County.

The Know Your Vote, youth voter guide  project was designed, reported and produced by student and young professional journalists from The Clock,The Concord Monitor, The Equinox, Granite State News Collaborative, Keene State College, The Laconia Daily Sun, The Monadnock Ledger-Transcript, Nashua Ink Link and The Presidency and the Press program at Franklin Pierce University. See the full guide at  www.collaborativenh.org/know-your-vote.