York Town News
Planning Board, School Committee discuss workforce housing plan
By Jennifer L. Saunders
YORK - If workforce housing is something you're interested in learning more about, the York Housing Authority has an ordinance you just might want to read.Available through the town's website at www.yorkmaine.org, the proposed ordinance would need voter approval to establish zoning options and guidelines to provide workforce housing in York.
Over the past several weeks, the Planning Board held a forum on the proposal, though did not discuss it in detail as only three members of the board were present for the meeting.
Last week, the School Committee discussed the preliminary plan as well.
Chairwoman Patty Hymanson encouraged the School Committee to support the ongoing dialogue.
"Their theme was 'Work here, live here.' … Who would utilize this housing … what is the need," Hymanson said.
From a York School Department perspective, she said, the motto becomes, "Teach here, live here."
As of last year, there were 192 teachers in York with only 81 living in town. Of those, 50 have worked in York for 10 or more years.
"One of the reasons, potentially, is they could afford housing that cannot be afforded by younger teachers," Hymanson said. "… Even our highest paid teachers ($60,000 per year) cannot afford the median-priced home in York."
Statistics show that a salary of $67,000 means a person could afford a $215,000 home, Hymanson said, which buyers would be hard pressed to find in York.
Several School Committee members indicated the town should continue to look at the ordinance and how it would be enacted and administered if approved.
Jud Knox, a member of the YHA, said the organization has been successful over the past decades in providing low-income housing for the elderly in the community.
With a charge from the Board of Selectmen to provide affordable housing for working people, the YHA has come up with a plan.
"The Housing Authority agreed with the selectmen that we would try to pick up this effort and provide some proposals to the Planning Board, the Board of Selectmen and the community as a whole," Knox said at the Planning Board forum held on July 27.
He explained that the proposed ordinance would allow special considerations to make workforce housing available with covenants in place to guarantee the housing remains used for that purpose alone.
York Housing Authority Director Patricia Martine described the ordinance as an opportunity to create balance in the community.
"Property values are soaring, creating a situation that only few can maintain," she said.
At the same time, there is a demand for more services, but few who work for the town, public safety departments or schools can afford to live in York.
"The average citizen has a chance to be a part of the solution," she said, as the ordinance is aimed at middle-income wage earners who currently cannot support the cost of owning a home in York.
According to the YHA's statistics, the median income is $73,400 per household in York and the range for workforce housing eligibility is suggested at 80 percent to 130 percent of the median.
At 80 percent, that income is $58,720 and at 130 percent it is $95,420.
"The people we are fired up about serving are the police, the firefighters, lobstermen, teachers," said James Gambrill of the YHA, adding the program would also apply to others within York whose income level keeps them from buying homes in town with a series of covenants within the deed to be sure priorities are met.
The ordinance would require a review of income and asset levels annually, as well as a review of the number of residents and the use of the house in question as the permanent domicile of those who qualified to buy it, as well as their work status.
The buyer must also agree to sell it at a price set to not exceed 30 percent of income of the household at that time to keep the properties affordable.
For an average home price of $420,000 in York, the annual income needed is over $130,000.
The program would use federal guidelines, according to the YHA and would consider income and assets. Workforce housing developments would be focused east of the Maine Turnpike and between the York and Cape Neddick Rivers, the designated "growth area" for York.
Planning Board members and members of the YHA designated there would be concerns about the proposed increased density allowed under the ordinance, if approved in the future.
Additional discussions with the Planning Board and YHA are planned for the weeks ahead.
"If this is to take place by this November, we really have to get very busy," said Barrie Munro of the Planning Board.
The Planning Board's next meeting, which includes application reviews of several projects including the proposed Highland Farm Phase Two on Cider Hill Road, will be held on Thursday, Aug. 10, at 7 p.m. at the library.
