48 EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 344 



zoning ordinances is feasible. Although the present enabling legislation 

 does not provide the broad framework included in the county zoning 

 enabling legislation of such states as Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, towns 

 need not await more comprehensive and specific enabling legislation. The 

 establishment of forestry and recreation districts under existing statutes 

 could be directed toward controlling the use and occupancy of land in 

 isolated areas characterized by high social costs. Only seasonal or per- 

 iodic occupancy might be allowed in recreation districts, with occu- 

 pancy prohibited altogether in designated forestry districts. Commer- 

 cial structures (including billboards) could be restricted to specific areas, 

 and the beauty of the rural scene enhanced thereby. 



Other public land management policies should supplement those al- 

 ready indicated. Certain towns have hastened the removal of year-round 

 residents from high-cost locations by "swapping" more accessible pro- 

 perties acquired through tax delinquency or other legal processes. Iso- 

 lated families with inadequate services often have been glad to accept 

 such offers, despite sentimental ties to the family homesteads. The 1941 

 State legislature passed a law providing that "whenever a town may find 

 that real estate in said town is in an isolated location and is uneconomic 

 for farm or home use, said town may at any legal meeting grant and vote 

 such sums as it may judge necessary to purchase such property. The 

 property acquired. . . may be used or disposed of for such recreational, 

 forestry, or other purposes as the town may deem to be in the public 

 interest". 1 " 



No one of these control policies is adequate by itself, but each can 

 play a part in achieving progress within the framework of a flexible plan 

 of development. 



State and Local Government Policy 



The rapid increase in summer homes has focused attention on the 

 question of divergent fiscal policies, both state and local. Fiscal con- 

 siderations were not reported to be a major determinant when selecting 

 summer home sites, but the statements of summer residents and realtors 

 indicated that such considerations carried some weight. Summer resi- 

 dents indicated further that fiscal problems loomed larger in their minds 

 during the years after purchase. 



New Hampshire has no state income tax, and the state tax on interest 

 and dividends is relatively so low that some Massachusetts residents have 

 bought summer homes partly at least to establish legal residence in New 

 Hampshire and thus avoid the higher taxes in Massachusetts. The extent 

 of this motive could not be measured from the statements of summer 

 residents, but its presence was indicated in numerous instances. The 

 State Tax Commission in its 1939 annual report stated that "due to our 

 present favorable rate of taxation on intangible income in comparison 

 with some of our neighboring states, there have been a number of new 

 residents who have filed returns during the past year". 1 " Similar state- 



15 Chapter 66 of the 1941 Laws of the State of New Hampshire. 



16 Twenty-ninth Annual Report of the Xew Hampshire State Tax Commission, 1939. 



