We know our member businesses are grappling with an acute shortage of affordable housing for their employees and are concerned about our states’ growing housing crisis. At a recent Housing Policy Conference hosted by the Maine Affordable Housing Coalition, stakeholders from across the state gathered to discuss potential solutions, policy developments, and strategies to address this major issue.
These discussions have important implications for industries like tourism and hospitality, where workforce shortages are directly tied to the lack of available housing. For business owners and managers who have been struggling to secure housing for their staff, understanding the latest trends and initiatives in the housing market is crucial. In this summary, we highlight key insights from the conference that may help guide your business decisions in the coming months and years.
Part IV: Land Use and Permitting
This presentation focused on addressing the challenges that developers have faced with zoning and locating housing projects, exploring both the existing statutory and regulatory framework as well as potential legislative changes at the municipal and state level to help solve these problems.
Home Rule vs. State Control
The discussion highlighted the tension between Maine's strong tradition of home rule, where municipalities set their own zoning and housing policies, and the state's efforts to encourage housing development. Elissa Margolin, Executive Director of Housing Action New Hampshire, shared her experiences navigating a similar dynamic between local control and state-level initiatives in her state. The conversation explored the nuances of what powers the state gives to local governments and what it retains, noting that the home rule concept is often oversimplified.
Proactive Zoning and LD 772
One of the key points raised is the importance of municipalities proactively developing zoning policies to support housing before large projects are proposed. The discussion highlighted LD 772, a recent Maine law that provides developers with more certainty by preventing retroactive zoning changes once a project has submitted a completed application. This law is seen as an important tool to help developers move forward with projects that might otherwise be blocked by NIMBY opposition.
Strategies for Developers
The panel discussed strategies that developers can employ under the existing zoning framework, such as reaching out to potential opponents early, making changes to address legitimate concerns, and leveraging the provisions of LD 2003 (Maine's recent housing bill) to proceed as-of-right (meaning that approval is granted because the proposal strictly conforms to zoning and building codes and, thus, qualifies for construction without requiring discretionary approval–a key hurdle to many housing projects in Maine). The importance of grassroots housing advocacy groups supporting projects at the local level was also highlighted.
Potential Legislative Changes
The discussion then turned to potential legislative changes that could be pursued to enable more housing development. Suggestions included strengthening the connection between comprehensive plans and zoning, allowing impact fees for housing, and creating a specialized housing appeals board (as New Hampshire has done) to provide a quicker and less expensive review process. The panel also cautioned about the potential unintended consequences of policies like inclusionary zoning and the need to balance housing production goals with public safety concerns in building code requirements.
Conclusion
The discussion concluded with a brief mention of the importance of regional cooperation in addressing housing challenges, as housing markets often do not follow geopolitical boundaries. Participants suggest that state-level mandates or incentives for regional housing strategies could be a way to balance local control with the need for a more coordinated approach to meeting housing needs.