April 10: Lewiston will use HUD funds to rehab up to 1,500 housing units
Lewiston plans to renovate 1,500 housing units through the HUD Choice Neighborhoods Initiative grant. Lewiston is the only city in Maine to receive federal funds through this grant. The $1.8 million in federal funds will be used to restore local housing projects.
Read the full article here.
April 11: Bangor closes encampment, connects unhoused people with housing options
The City of Bangor has been working to close down one of its homeless encampments, which is along Valley Avenue. For the past couple of weeks, outreach workers have been at the encampment working with people to secure permanent and temporary housing. This is the City of Bangor’s first attempt to implement an emergency management approach with their technical assistance team to close a homeless encampment.
Read the full article here.
April 11: Maine bill would exempt small towns from having to approve accessory dwelling units
A new bill LD214 has been put forward to exempt towns with fewer than 10,000 people from implementing the new law LD2003. Those favoring LD214 say, “smaller towns often lack the infrastructure or space” for accessory dwelling units.
Read the full article here.
April 11: Waterville Planning Board cites benefits of multimillion-dollar housing project
The Waterville Planning Board on Tuesday viewed preliminary plans for Head of Falls Village, a proposed housing project which would build 63 new units downtown. Portland-based Renewal Housing Associates LLC and Northland Enterprises Inc are developing the project. Units are set to be rated at a mixture of workforce and market rates.
Read the full article here.
April 12: Landlords raise nearly $80,000 to support referendum eliminating rent cap
In the article, RHA President Brit Vitalius notes, “a campaign requires money to be raised and spent – which is why the Democratic Socialists are also fundraising. At the end of the day, this remains a terrible way to make housing policy but the cost to Portland if we don’t fix rent control is higher than the cost of any campaign.”
Read the full article here.
April 12: $1.5M federal grant funneled to Maine's affordable housing crisis
Affordable housing lender The Genesis Fund was awarded a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Treasury Department. The Genesis Fund plans to funnel the grant to areas that have experienced COVID-19 economic impacts to help “address the state’s affordable housing crisis.”
Read the full article here.
