Voters in Hampton overwhelmingly passed a set of zoning changes that will require new construction in certain flood-prone coastal neighborhoods to be built up on pilings that let water flow underneath.
Hampton is seeing more “nuisance flooding” from very high tides each year. Even moderate climate projections show sea level rise in the coming decades could put 700 homes in the town – currently worth $215 million dollars – at risk of chronic inundation.
Hampton conservation commission chair Jay Diener says the pilings proposals drew heated debate before town meeting, so he was pleased that voters approved them by wide margins.
“I suppose that if I were to read anything into that vote, it might be that Hampton residents are aware that coastal flooding is becoming more of a concern to be dealt with, and they are supportive of efforts by the town to help to reduce or mitigate the impacts of that flooding,” he said in an email Wednesday.
The new regulations are viewed as a first step in adapting to rising seas, which Hampton was able to take without much support or funding from the state and federal government. Diener has said the town will need more of those resources down the line to plan larger-scale responses.
Other town meeting articles focused more on renewable energy as a means of tackling the carbon emissions that scientists agree are driving global warming.
The town of Milford approved a lease for what would be the largest solar farm in the state by far if it’s built soon.
The 20-megawatt solar array from developer Granite Apollo is slated to be built on 120 acres of town-owned land, and should bring in around $6 million in revenue for the town in the coming years.
Votes in other towns were more symbolic – at least for now. Epping approved a non-binding “rights-based resolution,” and Exeter a “rights-based ordinance,” both affirming local rights to protect against what residents view as harmful fossil fuel development.
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