Brunswick is joining other Maine towns in calling for changes to a new housing law that limits municipalities’ ability to regulate residential development.
At its Tuesday night meeting, the Brunswick Town Council unanimously passed a resolution calling on the Maine Legislature to correct LD 1829 — “An Act to Build Housing for Maine Families and Attract Workers to Maine Businesses by Amending the Laws Governing Housing Density” — an omnibus housing law they say is “one size fits all.”
“Decisions about Brunswick … are best made here in Brunswick,” District 1 Councilor Richard Ellis said at the meeting.
LD 1829, which goes into effect in July, makes it easier to build affordable housing projects and accessory dwelling units, but it also limits municipal control over residential development.
The law prohibits limits on residential development in areas municipalities have designated for growth. It also allows affordable housing projects to exceed certain height requirements and blocks municipalities from enforcing a minimum lot size greater than 5,000 square feet in areas served by public water and sewer.
A new bill, LD 2173, seeks to “fix” 1829. It reintroduces rate-of-growth ordinances but requires municipalities to grow at 130% of the average of the past five years, compared a rate of 105% over a 10-year average, which is currently required.
In its resolution to lawmakers, the Brunswick Town Council calls for legislation to eliminate certain growth mandates and provide state assistance to communities experiencing increased development.
“While the town of Brunswick supports the goals of increasing housing supply, the prescriptive implementation requirements of LD 1829 present critical challenges that threaten our ability to manage growth responsibly and and maintain the quality of life our residents expect,” the town’s resolution reads.
Brunswick took steps to retain some control over development in it’s recently adopted comprehensive plan, which serves as the basis for town growth over the next decade. In the plan, Brunswick shrunk it’s designated growth area, the area in which the town would not be allowed to limit growth under LD 1829.
Other southern Maine municipalities, including Scarborough and Windham, have asked for legislators to re-think LD 1829 and restore local control over housing decisions.