Cape Elizabeth residents will have an opportunity next month to weigh in on proposed zoning and housing ordinances to bring the town in line with a state mandate designed to promote affordable housing.
The state law, LD 2003, enacted in an effort to ease the statewide housing crisis, makes it easier for individuals and developers to build affordable housing. It comes at a time when Cape Elizabeth has already been taking steps to address the lack of affordable housing in town through an independent housing study and an ad-hoc Housing Diversity Committee.
Mandated changes being made to the town’s ordinances include allowing detached accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, on any single-family lot. The number allowed will depend on the size of the lot. Currently, Cape Elizabeth permits ADUs on some lots, but they must be attached to or part of a home, such as a basement or a garage apartment.
Resident Tom Dunham, a partner in The Dunham Group, a commercial real estate brokerage, took issue with the easing of ADU restrictions.
“I’ve been in the real estate business for 50 years,” he told the council at its Monday meeting. “I think the ADU criteria really disturbs me because it is not good planning at all. There are no parking requirements, there are no stormwater requirements.”
Also, he said, an abundance of ADUs in a neighborhood could bring down property values.
ADUs must be at least 190 square feet, according to LD 2003, but municipalities are allowed to set a maximum size cap. The council voted 5-1 Monday, with Councilor Tim Reiniger opposed, to limit the size of ADUs to 1,100 square feet. The town originally considered a maximum of 1,800 square feet, but some councilors said that large of a threshold could have unintended consequences.
“When you’re thinking about the intentions of ADUs in providing alternative housing for aging seniors in place, people taking care of their parents, people taking care of their kids,” said Councilor Nicole Boucher, “to make it 1,800 square feet feels like that’s going to be a rent level or a property level that is not inherently affordable to the people we’re trying to help.”
The town’s proposed LD 2003 amendments also include giving affordable housing developments a series of “bonuses” intended to make them easier to execute, both in design and financially. Developers of projects that meet certain criteria will be allowed to build 2½ times the number of units now allowed. Where now only 20 units might be the maximum permitted for a specific project, the developer will be able to build 50, for example. In addition, the number of parking spaces required for qualifying affordable housing developments has been reduced to two spaces for every three units. The projects making use of these incentives must remain affordable for 30 years based on the area’s median income.
The public hearing on the amendments is scheduled for July 10. Resident John Voltz was eager for the council to move forward with the amendments.
“I appreciate the time and care the town took to get these right, but we now are behind schedule,” Voltz said. “I would urge (you) to just move expeditiously and come into compliance.”
LD 2003 set a deadline of July 1 for municipalities to update their ordinances, but Chairperson Jeremy Gabrielson said Cape Elizabeth may have until January to comply. “We’ve received some recent guidance from the state on that,” he said.
Reiniger said the town needs more time to carefully consider the amendments, including getting input from the Housing Diversity Committee, which is set to present a full list of its housing recommendations to the council in September.
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