| Joanne Cole |
A joint meeting of the Select Board, Planning Board and Land Management Committee on Tuesday night paved the way for a March 19 public hearing on housing-related changes to the town’s zoning ordinance. From there, the proposed revisions would go to voters at Town Meeting in May and, if approved, to a ballot vote in June.
The focus of the February 27 joint meeting was LD 2003, a 2022 law that the state has described as “a landmark piece of housing legislation.” Its goal is to increase housing availability and affordability by requiring all towns and cities to remove or reduce certain zoning barriers.
The upshot is to allow more housing, of varied types and cost, in more locations. These include more accessory dwelling units – those small, self-contained living spaces like ‘in-law apartments’; denser development for affordable housing in certain areas; and more residential dwelling units per lot – provided that other conditions are met. (The term “dwelling unit” covers condos, multi-family houses, apartments… not just single-family homes.)
LD 2003 also requires that municipalities ensure that local ordinances “affirmatively further” the Maine Human Rights Act and the Fair Housing Act to achieve state and regional housing goals. Specific housing targets are expected later this year.
For New Gloucester, however, the immediate concern is a July 1 deadline to bring the town’s zoning ordinance into compliance with the new law. The February 27 joint meeting represented a first step: part information, part formal vote.
The vote at the meeting’s end was quick and unanimous: to send the proposed zoning ordinance amendments to public hearing. That hearing will take place with the Planning Board on Tuesday, March 19, at 7 p.m. at the Amvets Hall.
But it was information about what LD 2003 requires in general and how New Gloucester is responding in particular that was the heart of the joint meeting.
A PowerPoint, created by Town Planner Kathy Tombarelli and LMPC members and presented by Chair Brian Shedlarski, gave an overview of the law’s principal provisions, along with specifics about exactly what will now be permitted in which zones.
Planner Tombarelli followed with a detailed review of the revised ordinance language, the context and likely impact. Rules around accessory dwelling units (ADUs) represent the significant change for New Gloucester, she said. Other provisions called for by LD 2003 already applied here, but not in other towns, she noted.
Overall, Tombarelli characterized the approach being taken here to LD 2003 as “very conservative” in general and as “opening the door slowly.”
As Tombarelli explained, although LD 2003 eliminates or relaxes certain restrictions, it allows municipalities to keep other local requirements in force. These include minimum lot sizes, required frontage, setback distances and shoreland protections. As a result, LD 2003 is likely to be less impactful in rural communities than initially appeared.
For example, because of LD 2003, ADUs can’t be prohibited where there’s an existing home, but New Gloucester’s setback requirements ensure that that ADU can’t be dropped right against a neighbor’s property line, Tombarelli said. Similarly, ADUs must be allowed in the Historic Overlay Districts, but they still have to undergo review by the Historical Society to ensure their design, materials and siting are compatible with their historic surrounds.
The law sets minimum expectations—it’s ‘cities and towns must do at least this’—but leaves municipalities free to go further by loosening other zoning restrictions. And some cities and towns have, Tombarelli told the assembled group. So far, New Gloucester has chosen a wait-and-see approach, she said, and can reevaluate once the number of resulting permits is clearer.
In a debrief with LMPC the following evening, Tombarelli commented that there will be “two audiences” at the public hearing: “One is going to wish we didn’t have to do anything and the other is going to wish we would do more.” She hopes to emphasize that the Town is complying with LD 2003 and also that this coming year might be just a first step. “We’ll test it for a year,” she said, “and if we need to adjust it, we’ll make changes accordingly.”
The March 19 public hearing will provide a first opportunity for residents to learn more—the PowerPoint presentation will return—and to ask questions and weigh in. Along with the LD 2003 revisions, two other proposed ordinance changes will be addressed that evening. One would streamline how minor changes to previously-approved site plans are reviewed. The other would adopt a comprehensive floodplain management ordinance, required for New Gloucester residents to be eligible for federal flood insurance.
But LD 2003 is bound to be the center of discussion.
Find the proposed ordinance changes and mark-up in the meeting agenda packet at this link. Review LMPC’s PowerPoint presentation on LD 2003 at this link. View video of the February 27, 2024, joint meeting of the Select Board, Planning Board and LMPC at this link.
