9/27: Housing crisis | Lessons to be learned from Maine?
The housing crisis knows no borders. While the federal and Quebec governments are stalling, our neighbor, Maine, has just authorized the addition of accessory dwelling units to any house statewide in an effort to rebalance the housing market.
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9/27: Gov. Mills says state has done what it can to help Portland's homelessness crisis
Portland city leaders say they have repeatedly asked Governor Janet Mills for help with the homeless encampment crisis. The city continues to close encampments, saying they're public health and safety hazards.
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9/28: Developing housing in Portland: Are city rules helping or hurting?
Portland, like much of Maine, is dealing with a housing shortage, especially affordable housing. But many residential developers say new zoning rules in Portland are making it tough for them to provide new options. 8 Investigates dug into more than a decade of data to see what is going on and got local developers on the record.
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9/28: Portland mayor calls for city, state to work together to address homelessness crisis
For a long time, city leaders have been asking her administration for more help, which she says has been happening. This is a concern that's been going on for some time, where the city manager and councilors have been asking for more assistance from the state, saying Portland can't handle the problem alone.
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9/28: Maine ACLU Demands Portland Stop 'Criminalizing Homelessness', Calls Encampment Sweeps 'Inherently Racist'
The ACLU of Maine joined the Communist Party for Socialism and Liberation and other advocacy groups Tuesday to urge the Portland City Council to end its policy of encampment sweeps and to testify against their proposed expansion of the city’s Homeless Services Center (HSC). The Maine ACLU joined protesters outside Portland City Hall before a scheduled workshop on the City Council’s proposal to use an emergency declaration to relax city building ordinances in order to add 150 bunk beds to the HSC, at a cost of over $130,000.
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9/29: WMTW Portland Investigates What’s Driving The Maine City’s High Cost Of Living
Residents in Portland, a coastal city in Maine, are facing a single issue to their cost of living that makes residing there almost beyond the reach of most people. The challenge is one associated with cities like Austin, Texas; Los Angeles; and other major metros that are experiencing rapid uncontrolled growth.
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10/2: As Old Orchard Beach wrestles with short-term rental rules, tourism and housing collide
A proposal for a moratorium on new short-term rentals is unlikely to move forward in the tourist-heavy town, but the council may still discuss whether more regulation is needed.
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10/2: Portland City Council strikes down proposal that would have opened 50 new homeless shelter beds
Portland will not be moving forward with adding 50 new shelter beds at its homeless services center on Riverside Street after the city council voted against the measure Monday night.The move would have added 50 more beds to the 208 already there, allowing the Encampment Crisis Response Team to offer more spaces to unhoused people who want it, before shutting down the encampment.
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10/2: 40 Under 40: Laura Reading is an advocate for affordable housing
Significant professional accomplishment: Creating 615 new units of affordable housing in Maine, with another 234 in predevelopment. More than just these numbers, my hope is that these units are providing a stable foundation for residents to thrive.
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10/2: Inside a pioneering affordable housing project in a pricey Maine city
ROCKLAND, Maine — Shannon Denison lived for eight years in a St. George apartment with a mold problem that the landlord did not fix. She lives with family now in South Thomaston with her husband and three daughters. They can’t afford escalating rent prices in Rockland and the surrounding area, so when she was referred to apply for a new Habitat for Humanity house, she went right for it.
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10/2: “We need to do a lot more enforcement”: Cumberland DA Jackie Sartoris Talks Portland Homeless Encampments on WGAN
Cumberland County District Attorney Jackie Sartoris joined Matt Gagnon on Newsradio WGAN Monday morning to discuss Portland’s encampment crisis and the issues her office faces due to a backlog of cases and lack of staffing at the Cumberland County Jail. Sartoris told Gagnon that the homeless encampments in Portland are “definitely getting worse.”
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10/2: Supreme Court Denies Challenge to New York’s Rent Regulations Law
Decision Deals Blow to Property Owners of 1 Million New York City Rent-Stabilized Apartments. Without giving a reason, the highest U.S. court denied the petition filed in May by the Community Housing Improvement Program and the Rent Stabilization Association of N.Y.C., groups representing tens of thousands of the city’s rent-stabilized property owners, and some individual property owners. The case was filed after lower courts dismissed their complaint first filed in July 2019 with the Eastern District of New York.
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10/3: Housing remains top issue in Portland, outgoing mayor says in final state of the city address
"Some people say we have no new housing being built in Portland. What's happening? We're behind the eight-ball. Why aren't we contributing to the housing crisis?" Snyder said. "Other people will say there's non-stop construction in the city of Portland. When will it end? Well, it both feels true lots of times. We want more housing, we want it faster, and we're constantly being stopped at construction sites."
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10/3: What is considered to be affordable housing in Maine?
Maine’s housing crisis seems to be in the headlines just about every day. Last month, state officials told lawmakers they’re adding about 500 to 600 affordable housing units each year, lower than the goal of 1,000 due to what they say is high construction costs.
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10/3: Maine is heading for a reckoning on the housing crisis
Those sets of facts should be underscored by a landmark report on Maine’s housing needs that will be released Wednesday by the administration of Gov. Janet Mills and MaineHousing, the state housing authority. Greg Payne, the governor’s housing adviser, teased it to lawmakers last month, and it will be unveiled ahead of a statewide conference in Portland.
Read full article here.
10/3: Old Orchard Beach Town Council rejects short-term rental moratorium
Town councilors in Old Orchard Beach unanimously rejected a moratorium on short term rentals on Tuesday, after an overwhelming majority of residents spoke out against it at a meeting last month. New short-term rental applications will continue to be approved, which is a win for many rental owners, but a disappointment for some long-term residents.
Read full article here.
10/4: State announces plan to sweep Portland’s Marginal Way homeless encampment
Dozens of tents at the site, which occupies about half of the state's Marginal Way park-and-ride lot, will be cleared on Nov. 1.
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10/4: Gorham to hold hearing on pace of construction at proposed Robie St. housing development
The Planning Board will hold a workshop Oct. 16, but a contract zone public hearing has yet to be scheduled.
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10/4: Maine needs at least 84,000 new homes within seven years, study says
A first-of-its-kind study paints a sobering picture of Maine’s housing market. The state needs as many as 84,300 new homes of all kinds within the next seven years to meet current and future demands. And the study concludes that failing to build or reinvest in more homes may have serious implications for Maine’s labor force and economy.
Read the full article here.
10/4: Maine needs nearly 80,000 new homes to fix deficit and meet expected demand by 2030, study finds
A new report from a collaboration of Maine housing experts shows Maine is short more than 84,000 homes needed to account for current short supply and expected population growth.
Watch Maine Housing Q&A here.
