How 3 new Maine mayors’ plan to repair their cities’ housing crises
The brand new mayors of Auburn, Biddeford and Portland see tackling the housing affordability disaster in every of their cities as a prime precedence as they begin their phrases.
Jeff Harmon, Marty Grohman and Mark Dion have been all voted in partially as a consequence of their housing plans in an election that got here after a state-sponsored report launched this fall confirmed that a minimum of 76,000 properties have to be constructed by 2030 with the intention to deal with a backlog in housing manufacturing and account for inhabitants development.
Their cities are all dealing with completely different units of challenges, from homelessness to native disagreement about how they need to develop. However these mayors and different native officers shall be on the frontlines of constructing new properties in locations the place many are anticipated to settle.
Right here’s how they’d sort out this significant coverage space.
Auburn
Improvement was the highest marketing campaign concern in Auburn this 12 months. Mayor Jason Levesque acquired nationwide recognition for liberalizing the town’s housing legal guidelines, whereas Harmon emerged as an activist in opposition to Levesque’s plans for extra development across the Lake Auburn watershed and on agricultural land.
Harmon, a retired Maine State Police deputy chief and Auburn police officer, prevailed on Tuesday, profitable a decisive 62 p.c of votes. He stated it was a message that “it’s OK to have development as long as it’s deliberate, and there’s an inclusive course of to do it.”
“I’m in favor of development. I’m not against extra housing,” Harmon stated. “I feel it must be good development.”
As mayor, Harmon has stated he’ll give attention to setting up extra senior, workforce and low-income housing in Auburn, in addition to the high-end or market fee residences unaffordable to the overwhelming majority of the town’s residents.
Harmon plans to determine a fee to create a housing technique for Auburn within the coming years that would come with councilors, coverage consultants and residents, he stated Wednesday.
“We have to take a extra granular strategy,” he stated. “We have to have way more neighborhood engagement in analyzing zoning and what zoning modifications we would want to perform the objectives we would set.”
Biddeford
Grohman, a metropolis councilor and former state consultant who runs a commerce group for environmental companies, was elected Tuesday to grow to be Biddeford’s first new mayor in 12 years.
The previous milltown that has seen one thing of a renaissance previously decade. New growth and a flourishing meals scene has attracted an inflow of latest residents, making it troublesome to search out and finance a house right here, Grohman stated.
“It’s a serious, main precedence,” Grohman stated of the town’s housing scarcity. “We’ve got numerous work to do. We’re chugging alongside, however we’ve acquired some catching as much as do.”
Although there are practically 1,500 new housing items in growth proper now in Biddeford, Grohman stated solely 39 items are designated as reasonably priced proper now. About 500 shall be market-rate effectivity or studio residences aimed toward housing Biddeford’s workforce, he stated.
Grohman stated his priorities on taking workplace shall be to make clear the town’s allowing course of and ensure there aren’t any bureaucratic holdups. He additionally needs to give attention to setting up starter properties for the younger households and {couples}.
One other focus shall be on discovering properties for round 50 homeless folks in Biddeford. Grohman stated a neighborhood nonprofit, Seeds of Hope, has been doing a little good work connecting with these folks, ensuring they get meals and garments on weekday mornings.
As a metropolis councilor, Grohman was capable of assist get a restoration coach staffed on the nonprofit, however he stated there’s room to do extra.
“There’s numerous alternative that may occur fairly promptly to do some extra counseling in that interplay, and supply that, so when individuals are prepared they will make that leap,” Grohman stated.
Portland
After a runoff election, Councilor Mark Dion prevailed within the race for mayor Wednesday morning over 4 different candidates.
Dion was unavailable for touch upon Wednesday, however he stated Monday that tackling housing affordability and homelessness in Portland is a prime precedence. Portland is Maine’s largest metropolis, and rents and residential costs there are a few of the highest within the state.
Throughout the marketing campaign, Dion clashed with Councilor Andrew Zarro, the runner-up, on housing coverage. After Zarro referred to as for 12,000 new housing items in 10 years, Dion stated that objective was unrealistic. In a September debate, he stated the town ought to enhance density alongside busy corridors however cautioned that rezoning should take the issues of neighborhoods into consideration.
The mayor-elect is already at odds with some colleagues on the way to sort out homelessness in Portland. Over the weekend, Councilors Roberto Rodríguez and Anna Trevorrow submitted a proposal to raise the town’s anti-camping ban for the winter, permitting homeless folks to sleep in tents or parked automobiles on public property, with some exceptions, till April 30.
The coverage shall be learn to the council and voted on subsequent Monday. However Dion, who shall be sworn in subsequent month, has stated the coverage is a step within the flawed route. He helps so-called sweeps of homeless encampments “on a schedule and with sufficient discover” alongside a push to get folks sleeping exterior into shelters or detox applications.
“I feel it’s easy as to what I feel the town’s accountability right here is. It might not be common in some corners, I settle for that, however I for one am not going to face and say, ‘OK, let’s allow them to type this out over the winter and see how that works out,’” Dion stated Monday.
