Cape Elizabeth’s Housing Diversity Study Committee next week will finalize its long-awaited report with over 60 recommendations on how to create more housing options in Cape Elizabeth.
Recommendations include setting a goal of building 125 affordable housing units in the next 10 years and considering some town-owned properties for housing, both of which the committee debated at a meeting on Monday.
“This has been a long 14 months and everybody here has put in a lot of time and effort to get to a place where we can say (these) are Cape Elizabeth solutions to Cape Elizabeth problems – from the town, for the town,” Chairman Kevin Justh told the committee. “I believe the town owes each and every one of you gratitude for your service here.”
The meeting was the committee’s last chance to either finalize or make changes to the many chapters of their 114-page draft report. Some of the final revisions were unanimous while others were decided on 4-3 votes, including the decision not to recommend a housing development for the northern portion of Gull Crest Field. Committee members Stephanie Anderson and Tim Thompson, both town councilors, and Curtis Kelly were opposed.
The idea for housing to be built on 22 acres at the 200-acre town-owned Gull Crest gained traction last year, but a petition to put zoning in place for “community housing” there fell 39 signatures short of forcing a referendum.
A feasibility study completed by Sebago Technics in July of this year cited some barriers to building at the Gull Crest site, including sloping terrain adjacent to wetlands that would pose a challenge and a nearby landfill that could cause health concerns for the people who would live there.
Anderson proposed recommending further study of the site to see if it would be suitable.
“This is a big deal and I’m not letting go of this,” she said.
“It’s not like there’s a lot more money that would need to be spent immediately to push this forward,” Thompson said.
Anderson’s proposal was voted down, but the committee did recommend studying a southern portion of Gull Crest for development.
The report also recommends housing feasibility studies on other town-owned properties, such as unused land near Town Hall. It notes, however, that the town should consider whether it would need that land for future expansion, such as for another municipal building.
Another site to pursue, according to the report, is the site of the original high school, built in 1933, that is now part of Cape Elizabeth Middle School. That site could be considered if the town’s School Building Advisory Committee decides it is not needed as part of their solution to alleviate problems at the town’s aging schools.
The committee originally considered a goal of creating 200 affordable housing units in the next 10 years, including accessory dwelling units, also known as in-law apartments. However, Anderson argued it would be difficult to assess whether an ADU is affordable because any money that changes hands is most often a private transaction between family members.
“It doesn’t go on the market,” she said, later asking, “Are we going to demand from people, ‘What are you charging for rent?'”
The committee decided on two separate goals: Build 125 affordable housing units in the next 10 years and build 50 ADUs in that same span.
The Town Council recently set the maximum size of an ADU to 800 square feet, but some committee members noted existing structures that are eligible to become ADUs, such as the garage or basement of a single-family home, may be larger than that. Under recently passed ordinances, someone who wants to convert their 1,000-square-foot basement to an ADU would have to wall off at least 200 square feet of it. The committee decided to recommend the town waive the maximum size for existing structures.
The committee will meet on Thursday, Dec. 28, to sign off on the report’s final draft, which is expected to be presented to the Town Council in January.
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