Rent is unaffordable for tens of thousands of Mainers in every corner of the state. For far too many Mainers, buying a home is simply unattainable.
The Szanton Co. has proposed building Dunham Court, a four-story, 49-unit affordable-housing project, shown in this rendering, that would be next door to Cape Elizabeth’s Town Hall. Some residents say it’s not a good fit for the town, which is another way of saying that they want their community to be exclusively for the well off. Rendering courtesy of The Szanton Co.
It’s a problem that strikes directly at people’s ability to have a safe, welcoming place to call home. And it’s not just in Portland or southern Maine, but nearly everywhere, as wages have failed to keep up with housing prices rocketing upward as a result of demand and a failure to build enough new residences.
Many communities will have to build more housing — and not just single-family homes, but also apartment buildings aimed at working-class Mainers, built near jobs, amenities and services and along busy travel corridors, coordinated with public transit.
Not enough of those projects are being proposed. And when they are, such as a recent plan brought forth in Cape Elizabeth, they are often met with resistance.
The four-story, 49-unit project is proposed for the middle of the tony seaside community, within walking distance of schools, a pharmacy, a grocery store and the library. The town’s first affordable-housing project in 50 years, it would be perfect for younger people who can’t afford a house, or older residents who want to downsize.
The apartment building could be home to teachers, firefighters, students or workers in fishing or farming, none of whom typically can afford to live in the community now. In fact, places like Cape Elizabeth and Falmouth report trouble filling spots on the volunteer fire department for just this reason.
It’s just what the community, with a median home price of $625,000 and rising, needs.
Except in Cape Elizabeth, some residents are opposed to the proposal, saying that a four-story building is too big for the center of town, when that’s just where it should go, and that it’s not a good fit for the town.
What they are really saying, whether they recognize it or not, is that they want their community to be exclusively for the well off. The people who teach their kids and put out their fires will have to live elsewhere. The people who are just looking for an affordable place to live near work are out of luck.
It’s not just Cape Elizabeth that has this attitude. Throughout the state, communities use zoning and land-use policies to keep affordable housing out. Even individual neighborhoods will come together to fight against multi-family housing, arguing vaguely that it just isn’t the right fit.
We’ll get a better look at those regressive policies soon. As the result of a bill from House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford, a new 15-person committee will be formed to focus on municipal restrictions and how they get in the way of affordable housing development.
Thanks to an earlier bill, Maine has more tax credits available to spur development. But those projects have to go somewhere, and some communities have all but shut their doors.
Given the state’s history with local control, the committee won’t establish mandates that communities must follow. Instead they’ll offer incentives.
It’s unclear what those will look like. Wealthy communities like Cape Elizabeth and Falmouth use little in public subsidy, so it’s hard to use that subsidy as a cudgel.
We would hope, instead, that communities see the benefits of building affordable housing – of having a broad range of people able to live there, and of having a broad range of options for them to live in.
We’d hope they see that their fellow Mainers are suffering to find affordable homes, and want to be a part of the solution.
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