BIDDEFORD — The chair of the Mayor’s Affordable Housing Task Force outlined some immediate steps members are asking the Biddeford City Council to take to help people currently unhoused.

The suggestions were part of a larger interim report task force chair and City Councilor Doris Ortiz presented to the City Council on Oct. 4. A full, final report is due Nov. 15.

The mayor’s nine-member Affordable Housing Task Force was formed to review and make recommendations on housing issues facing the community. The charge included nine work tasks — from reviewing historical data to defining “affordable” in Biddeford, reporting on the actual change in affordability in Biddeford in the last five years; providing a city housing inventory; identifying housing shortages in the city; providing a forecast of the likely changes in affordable housing over the next five years without any intervention; identifying the current and projected impact on homelessness within the community; reviewing the current housing goals adopted by the City Council and making any recommendations on changes, if appropriate.

“The unhoused issue is too large for the task force to take on,” said Ortiz, adding the body is asking the City Council to act now. “We are coming up into winter, she said. “We need to take care of our unhoused.”

The task force is “asking the city council to take immediate action to change the existing policy of doing essentially the state minimum required; so that unhoused does not face a winter night on the street,” according to the interim report.

The interim report goes on to ask the City Council to develop and implement a city-wide unhoused strategy “that provides complete services to assist the unhoused so they may break the cycle of being unhoused. With the complexity of the issue, the task force encourages community outreach and engagement during the process,” the report states and notes the policy should be adopted by spring, 2023.

It is recommending the city seek additional technical assistance in developing options for the City Council to explore as they develop a new policy for unhoused people.

The interim report noted the nation-wide issue of people living without homes exists in Maine and in Biddeford.

“It’s not going away, and we’re seeing more and more of it,” said Ortiz of the prevalence of homelessness.

The interim report went on to speak to a number of the nine issues outlined in the categories it was charged to explore.

It noted that the median income of Biddeford residents rose by 51.8 percent from 2017 to 2020, from $31,067 to $47,140. It goes on to say that residents who have lived in the community for some time are unlikely, on average, to see their income increase by 51.8 percent.

Recommendations to be included in the final report include development of an inclusionary zone to require new housing projects to actively participate in creation of new affordable housing units and development of a new affordable housing fund, among others.

One provision the interim report says won’t be part of the final recommendation is rent control. Ortiz said any sort of rent control is not a desired solution to address affordable housing units within the community. She went on to say that the task forces’ rationale for that recommendation will be included in the final report.

Councilor Amy Clearwater expressed frustration at the council’s pace of dealing with the issues of housing affordability and homelessness.

“Thank you for this information,” Clearwater said. “I feel like we could have done something months ago. I feel like we should have done something years ago. I don’t know why we are not doing something. Some of these ideas are free. We have a brand-new planning staff who has the … capacity to bring us these ideas and get them done now. There are people living outside and we are awaiting a report, and I don’t sleep well at night in my big house — and I hope nobody else up here does either, because we haven’t done anything.”

Councilor Bob Mills wondered if warming stations were still in place, and whether they could be expanded to include other locations within the city.

The overall interim report drew praise from several councilors for the work done.

Councilor Martin Grohman said he saw some measures the city could take, like implementing density bonuses and removing or reducing some parking requirements.

Councilor Bill Emhiser said he looked forward to seeing the full report, and supported all of the recommendations.

Councilor Marc Lessard said density bonuses and the use of back lots could be implemented.

During public comment, resident Richard Rhames said Biddeford could look further at rent control, noting Portland has adopted that measure.

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