Cape Elizabeth Town Hall Sentry file photo
CAPE ELIZABETH – Cape Elizabeth’s ad-hoc Housing Diversity Study Committee held a meeting on Aug. 28 at the town hall where the town had a presentation hosted by Matt Panfil, planning director of the Greater Portland Council of Government. There was an opportunity for the board to ask questions. The presentation was held to assist the town in complying with the state law, LD 2003, which is meant to ease the statewide housing crisis. The purpose of the law is to assist individuals and businesses in the effort to build affordable houses. LD 2003 was signed into law by Gov. Janet Mills on April 27, 2022.
The town’s Housing Diversity Study Committee is taking steps to address the lack of affordable housing. The mandated changes being made to the town’s ordinances include allowing accessory dwelling units, ADUs, on any single-family lot. The number allowed will depend on the lot size. ADUs must be at least 190 square feet according to LD 2003.
Panfil described Greater Portland Council of Governments, “We are 1 of 11 regional planning organizations in the state. We receive funds from Maine Legislature and the Coastal Program.” He said that council is the metropolitan planning organization for the Cape Elizabeth area, which includes providing economic development strategies. The projection of the council of governments is that there will be 24,000 new homes by 2030, for up to 60,000 more people. When asked where the people were coming from, the response was Massachusetts, New York, California, and immigrants.
The Greater Portland Council of Government will help assess Cape Elizabeth’s housing needs and help engage the community. He went on to say “We can assist in various ways. We have a network of affordable housing experts, and we can help find grant opportunities.”
Resident John Voltz said he hoped the committee would “include a section about finance in the final report” as he said there had been a lot of information about finance that would be helpful for the public to read. Voltz quoted an email when he discussed the idea of building affordable housing next to a capped landfill, “putting poor people by the dump are optics we will never avoid.” There have been emails and discussions about the suggestion to build affordable housing next to the capped landfill.
Cynthia Dill spoke to the committee, asking them to treat all members of the public fairly. She stated that the email from St. Pierre that described the concerns about Gull Crest, the property near a capped landfill, shouldn’t carry more weight than the work she has provided. Her response to the quoted email was to point out that there are other successful affordable housing examples that are near capped landfills. She said the laws are being followed and “Cape Elizabeth hasn’t had an active dump in a long time.”
Timothy Thompson, vice chair of the committee, stated it might be easiest and quickest to simply comply with the new proposed changes. “We should just do what the law requires.”
The chair, Kevin Justh, reassured Thompson there is enough time to get the new rules in place, “Things take a long time in Cape Elizabeth, a year’s worth of discussion and revision. I only anticipate our report will be done by the new year,” said Justh.
“It’s a shame this wasn’t on our agenda a long time ago,” Thompson said.
The board also discussed the survey it sent out to the public. The survey has 371 surveys completed so far. The town said the next steps will be to reach out to the public for feedback, via phone calls and email blasts. The next two meetings are scheduled for Sept. 13 and Sept. 25, both at 6:30 p.m.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
