ENFIELD — Residents will vote next week on a change to the town’s zoning ordinance that could lead to an increase in housing in the area surrounding downtown.

Article 2 on the March 10 Town Meeting warrant proposes three new zoning districts: Enfield Village, Enfield Village Downtown and Route 4.

Properties in those districts have the ability to connect to the town’s water and sewer system. The proposed ordinance would allow property owners to build more housing units on fewer acres of land.

For example, under the new Enfield Village district — the largest of the three — developers could build nine housing units on a 1½-acre plot, versus the six that are allowed under existing regulations.

“What we want to try to encourage is the small local builder and willing property owners who want to do something creative and interesting in terms of adding housing units to the downtown, that we don’t put unnecessary roadblocks in their way that drive up the costs of projects,” Enfield Planning Board member Tim Jennings said.

The Planning Board used the town’s Master Plan, which voters approved in 2024, as a guide.

“Just about every time it’s mentioned that the town should increase density in the Village it also says in a way that doesn’t degrade the rural character of the village,” said Jennings, who previously served as the town’s director of public works.

Article 2 was developed using a grant from the New Hampshire Housing Opportunities, a public corporation that focuses on affordable housing. The work focused on how to increase the number of housing units in town, Enfield Land Use and Community Development Administrator Rob Taylor said.

According to the 2023 New Hampshire Statewide Housing Needs Assessment, New Hampshire needs to building 60,000 units between 2020 and 2030 and 90,000 units between 2030 and 2040. As of 2023, New Hampshire needed 23,500 to stabilize its housing supply.

As in many Upper Valley communities, Enfield has few affordable options for home-buyers.

“We build 12 to 14 houses a year in Enfield,” Taylor said. “That’s not really getting us anywhere.”

If the new zoning ordinance passes, developers would still have to go through the town’s Zoning Board of Adjustment and Planning Board, as well as receive any necessary state approvals, to build new housing units, Taylor said.

Some Enfield residents are urging people to vote “no” on the amendment and urging town officials to conduct more studies, as well as see how current developments under consideration play out.

Laramie Farms, a roughly 300 unit housing complex proposed off Route 4, could bring around 600 new residents to Enfield, Dan Regan said.

He would like town officials to conduct an analysis that would show the maximum amount of units that could be built if the proposed zoning amendment passes.

“It’s only fair that the citizens know what the total impact of these zoning changes are going to be,” said Regan, who is chairman of the town’s Zoning Board of Adjustment. “I think we’re looking to make a decision too quickly here and we need to slow things down.”

The Master Plan notes that under the current zoning regulations, 1,337 units could already be built in zoning districts that have access to town water and sewer, resident Sharon Beaufait said.

“It’s not as if we’re turning our back on development,” said Beaufait. “That should be enough and we should develop that.”

If the zoning changes are passed, they would not apply to Laramie Farms — which if built, would be Enfield’s largest-ever development — because the project is already in the review process, Taylor said.

“Whether or not you have a new zoning ordinance or continue to live in the old ordinance, if the Zoning Board of Adjustment doesn’t enforce the rules, you can have anything,” Jennings said.

In 2024, the ZBA granted Laramie Farms multiple variances, including one that would allow developers to double the town’s current 35-foot height restrictions.

Regan also noted that Enfield and Lebanon recently worked together on a Mascoma Lake Watershed Management Plan Project and wants town officials to consider the impact of further development on the town’s water bodies.

“If our lakes go south, so to speak, that’s going to impact everybody, not just people who live along the lakes,” he said.

Last November, town officials reached an agreement with Laramie Farms developers developers John Dibitteto, of Maple Street-Enfield Acquisition LLC, based in Bradford, Mass., and Stephen Doherty, of DC Development and Construction, based in Sandown, N.H., to add capacity to the town’s water system if the proposal were to go through.

That could be either through making improvements to the town’s McConnell well, which is currently used only as a backup due to high uranium levels, or digging a new well on the Laramie Farms property.

Beaufait, too, is concerned about the impact of development on the town’s water, which comes from wells.

“There are implications that development brings,” Beaufait said. “You can’t have development without water and … we really don’t know what we have for future water.”

The Selectboard, the members of which also serve as the town’s water commissioners, must approve all new water and sewer connections.

“Enfield’s current water use is lower than in previous years, and the system has operated reliably—even during the most severe drought in 100 years,” according to a document prepared by town officials about the proposed zoning ordinance update. “The Town has substantial storage capacity, operational flexibility to increase production if needed, a new well coming online, and additional potential supply through improvements to the McConnell well.”

If water becomes a concern with new development, town officials could put a moratorium on new development, Jennings said.

“I’m not worried about it because I know the Selectboard, town manager, the public works director, they’re not going to let that happen,” he said.

The vote will take place via Australian ballot from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 10 at the Enfield Community Building, located at 308 Route 4. For more information about the proposed zoning ordinance, visit enfieldnh.gov.