York Town News
Workforce housing debate continues as proposal goes to Sept. 18 hearing
By Larry Favinger
YORK - The ordinance to establish a workforce housing program in town is headed for a final public hearing next month, but its future is far from certain.A decision on whether or not to forward the proposal to the voters in November will be made following a final public hearing before the Board of Selectmen, scheduled for Monday, Sept. 18, at the York Public Library.
Town Planning Steve Burns and the York Housing Authority brought a revised ordinance to the selectmen Monday night, and although most of the changes were suggested by the selectmen a week earlier, some still came in for criticism.
The program is designed to provide moderate-income individuals and families who live and work in York - or who work in York but live somewhere else - the opportunity to buy a home in the town. There are income guidelines, and the equity built up in the homes would be limited by the YHA to maintain a stock of affordable housing.
The income guidelines place those eligible, depending on family size, as households earning about $58,000 to $95,000 annually. The program is geared toward keeping moderate-income people who work in York living in the town.
"We're back from the table of compromise," York House Authority Director Patricia Martine told the selectmen.
She said the proposed changes included making sure the properties involved would be taxable and if there were any rentals involved, a payment would be made to the town in lieu of taxes.
"I live this every single day," Selectman Michael Estes said of his employees who can't live in the town. "It's always an issue."
He said he interviews people for jobs from out of the area and they can't take the position because of the price of housing.
"York should not be a community where only rich people can live," he said at Monday night's meeting, stressing the need for workforce housing.
Estes, who owns the locally-based Estes Oil, said he has 23 employees and, at this point, three of them live in the town. In the not too distant past, he said, all his employees lived in York.
YHA member James Gambrill said this proposal "has become quite an issue" in the town, adding the ordinance is needed "so those who work to serve us can live among us."
As to the impact of the ordinance on York, he said, "We all care about York. We want to help. We don't want to be destructive. There is going to be a cost for any change. The cost, we think, is minimal. Give it a chance."
YHA member Russell Peterson agreed.
"This is very important to the future of this community," he said.
Peterson said the proposal took more than a year to put together, a testament as to how difficult a task was handed to the YHA by the Board of Selectmen then in power.
"This is not an off-the-shelf program," he said, "and this is not an off-the-shelf community. I wish my children could afford to live here."
The need for this kind of housing has been established by the state of Maine, Burns said. "The state has declared there is a crisis in affordable housing and work-force housing is in that realm."
The selectmen discussed the need for such an ordinance and the potential financial impact on the town.
"There is a need," Selectmen Chairman David Marshall said, adding the question is about, "how do we deal with that need."
Marshall repeated his concern about the financial impact on the rest of the town.
"I know there is an impact," he said, adding he doesn't know what it might be. He said a study is needed "to make sure impact is acknowledged. We have to make an effort to (discover) the impact. … I think we're on the right track … (but the proposal is) worthy of more discussion."
Selectmen Vice Chairman Dwight Bardwell also wondered about impact.
"There has been no needs assessment done here," he said. "There is a fiscal impact and we need to know what it is."
Local resident Diane Binger pointed out the need for such an assessment during the public comment portion of the meeting. She said there's a need to know how many people in the targeted income bracket want this kind of housing.
Dave Emery, another local resident, wondered how many people would want to buy a house with the requirement for its equity to be limited.
Selectman Torbert Macdonald, Jr., said there is a fiscal impact of any market-rate housing development but no assessment on impact is required. The homes will be taxable, he said, and if the concern is about the impact on schools, simply apply the town's impact fee for schools to the purchase.
"Why should this be any different?" he said of this proposal in terms of other development in town.
Bardwell said he is concerned about the formula used to determine those eligible. And, he said, he is concerned about the formula used when income exceeds the upper limit, and residents must sell those homes, limiting the equity and assuring they are sold to other moderate-income people.
He objected to a provision for rental property, a stance with which the majority of the board agreed.
Macdonald recommended the eligibility for the housing be limited to police officers, firefighters, health professionals other than doctors and those involved in education. He said if eligibility isn't limited to that group, those people should be given preference.
Doing so, he said, "is a way of stabilizing the workforce."
Burns told the selectmen most of the technical issues with the ordinance proposal have been worked out, but there are a number of policy issues that the board must deal with.
Because of the time limits for completing the process of getting this on the ballot in November, Burns suggested the board take action on whether or not the ordinance will be going forward.
"If the answer is no, you should say no now," he said. "That would allow time to more closely study the proposal for a possible ballot question next year."
Selectman Len Dorrian indicated he is uneasy about the program's governance. He proposed that plans for development by the YHA come to the selectmen for approval and, if agreement isn't reached, the proposal goes to the voters.
Estes disagreed. He said the charter sets out the process for getting an item on the ballot and nothing should go automatically.
Dorrian also suggested a selectman sit on the housing authority's board to improve communication.
Macdonald said the YHA is appointed by the selectmen and therefore a selectman can't serve on it. As to an impasse between the YHA and the selectmen going to the voters, he said he was never afraid to have the people involved.
"I would not support stopping this tonight," Dorrian said. "I think we should move on."
Bardwell, who made the motion to forward the revised proposal to a public hearing Sept. 18, said he wanted legal counsel to look over the proposal to make sure it doesn't include "any red herrings."
Bardwell said the ordinance may not be ready to go forward to the voters at this time, but the people should be given another opportunity to speak out on it before that decision is made.
The decision to schedule the final public hearing was unanimous.
