York Town News
Workforce Housing Committee seeking pilot project site
By Melissa Wood
YORK - Uncertainty about the location of available land has been a challenge for members of the Affordable and Workforce Housing Committee as they put the finishing touches on a plan for a pilot workforce housing project.
The housing would be for moderate-income people who work in York but don't make enough money to be able to live here.
"Our goal right now is to establish a pilot plan," said Board of Selectmen Chairman Mike Estes, who is one of the board's two members on the Workforce Housing Committee. "The piece that's holding us up right now is identifying that land."
In order for the pilot project to become a reality, voters have to approve a workforce overlay zoning district that would allow for greater density than current town standards. Only the one pilot project, which would be developed and managed by the York Housing Authority, would be allowed under the ordinance.
Without knowing the size and location of the land, the group has had to expand the size of the overlay district to include all land east of Interstate 95 and between the Kittery and Ogunquit town lines. The committee is also unable to estimate the scope of the project, and, as Estes reminded the group, York voters like to know exactly what they're voting on before they vote.
"The real problem is, and the real help would be, if a piece of land could be determined," said newly appointed committee member Helen Winebaum. "Then you could show pictures and you could say this is the way it's going to work."
The group needs to forward the draft ordinance to Town Planner Steve Burns by this Friday, July 13, for public hearings to be held in August and a selectmen's vote in September if the proposal is going to make the November ballot.
York Housing Authority Executive Director Patricia Martine asked anyone who knows of a potential site to please contact the YHA. They have identified three potential sites that range from Cape Neddick to the Kittery line, but said that those locations could easily prove not feasible.
"The number of housing depends on the nature of the land. ... Sewerage is an issue and that could very much limit what you can do," said member Rozanna Patane.
Since the ordinance is only designed for the one-time pilot project, the committee decided to put in a "sunset clause," providing that the project be completed in five years.
The sunset clause also forces a committee to come back and look at what worked and what didn't work, as the town decides what step to take next.
Patane said she hopes developers will be able to follow with their own, although smaller-scale, workforce housing projects if the town can offer initiatives, such as Burns' recent proposal that would have rewarded builders who develop affordable projects with market-rate building permits.
"The whole idea with the model is to get our feet wet and see what works," said Patane.
The committee also tightened the definition of who would qualify for the housing to say that at least one member of the household must be working full time in the town of York to qualify because, if that restriction is left out, "someone could work outside York and their spouse could work 10 hours in York" and qualify, Estes said.
The committee also talked about concerns from residents that workforce housing only helps one segment of the population who need affordable housing, but members pointed out that the project is just one piece of a puzzle that the town's been working on for a while now.
"The state mandates it all," said Martine. "All you're doing here is the workforce piece."
