At least three towns in Maine had initiatives on Tuesday's ballot that would have paved the way for more affordable and workforce housing in their communities.
But voters in two of those towns soundly rejected the plans.
More than half of residents in the town of Cumberland turned out to vote on a referendum for 107 apartments on municipal-owned land. Roughly 70% of voters rejected the measure.
The town of Cumberland had asked for housing proposals from developers; only the non-profit Westbrook Development Corporation submitted plans.
The plans called for three, three-story buildings on Drowne Road. The apartments would have been set aside for those earning 60% of the area median incomes, which ranges from about $50,000 to $70,000 depending on the size of the household.
According to a 2022 survey of Cumberland residents, 58% said they supported some form of affordable housing in town.
But Tyler Norod, the non-profit's development director, said local residents expressed concerns about the project's size, traffic and potential impacts on the school and taxes. Both the town and the non-profit estimated that the project could add anywhere from 20-to-36 children to the local school population.
"In some ways this vote was, you can educate my child. You can save my life on a ambulance ride. You can take care of me when I'm old in a nursing home," Norod said. "But you can't be my neighbor. And to me that's just sad."
A group of residents formed a local political action committee, known as Cumberland Citizens for Responsible Housing, to oppose the referendum. The PAC raised nearly $20,000, according to campaign finance reports filed with the Maine Ethics Commission.
Cumberland town manager Bill Shane said he believed that the size of the project made some residents nervous. The town doesn't have many apartment complexes. Future projects should perhaps consider townhouses or smaller apartment buildings, he said.
"We're going to have to take a step back and really almost begin with the starting line of our comprehensive plan, which is up for renewal. Maybe renewal and a new vision for the future of the town," he said. "I was pretty shocked. I thought it was going to be a lot closer, but obviously it wasn't. We really missed the target with this project."
In Kingfield, voters defeated a zoning change that would have paved the way for the development of 18 apartments on a seven-acre parcel behind the Dollar General. The non-profit Western Maine Mountain Housing Coalition had formed a few years to study the needs in the region and eventually develop housing.
The volunteer-led group had secured a purchase-and-sale agreement on the land, but it needed Kingfield residents to approve density changes so the project could move forward.
"A big part of it was sort of the fear of the unknown," said Mark Green, the executive director the Western Maine Mountain Housing Coalition. "There was, unfortunately, some fear that because there was state money that immigrants would end up moving into the units or low-income folks. And of course, our mission was workforce."
The plans called for the construction of two, nine-unit apartment buildings. The one and two-bedroom apartments would have been set aside for those earning 80% of the area median income, which is $42,450 for one person in Franklin County.
Green said the apartments were intended for entry-level teachers, EMTs and service workers in the region.
"They're young, and they're earning good incomes," he said. "But they're not good enough to afford a $300,000 or $400,000 house. And we have lots of stories of people commuting long distances to work at the mountain or some of the manufacturers in this region."
The non-profit had planned to apply for funds through the state's rural affordable rental housing program to construct the first phase of the Kingfield development. During subsequent phases, the group envisioned building nine more apartments, eight townhouses and 10 single family homes.
"We're regrouping and we're going to move on — probably not in Kingfield — although that's not a definitive decision yet," Green said. "We're having some conversations with some of the principals in Kingfield. My guess is that we will move on to another community."
The town of Kennebunk approved a zoning change that will allow for the construction of 70 units of affordable senior housing on land donated by Kennebunk Savings Bank.
