Greenville Planning Board continues to explore housing density

GREENVILLE — During a December special town meeting, Greenville residents approved the creation of a proposed multigenerational housing district on 5 acres on Spruce Street off Pritham Avenue. The purpose of the district is to permit developers to build from 22 to 28 housing units on the 5.5-acre property. Infrastructure improvements include sewer and water extensions, stormwater collection installation, and construction of a new road and sidewalks onto the property. 

The planning board, which presented the ordinance to citizens for their approval, saw increased housing density as a tool to create more housing units at lower cost and, thus, more accessible to future long-term renters and homeowners. 

In order to explain this and an overlapping new law intended to help increase housing in town, the planning board crafted a press release — the full text is available at https://observer-me.com/2024/02/22/news/greenville-planning-board-explores-housing-density/ — and discussed the topics more during a Feb. 21 meeting.

In April 2022 Gov. Janet Mills signed an “An Act To Implement the Recommendations of the Commission To Increase Housing Opportunities in Maine by Studying Zoning and Land Use Restrictions” or LD 2003. Per guidance on the act from the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development, the law is designed to remove unnecessary regulatory barriers to housing production in Maine, while preserving local ability to create land use plans and protect sensitive environmental resources. Greenville has until July 1 to implement LD 2003.

The act guidance has sections relevant to municipalities, identifying amended sections of state law. Amendments include allowing for additional density for affordable housing developments in certain areas; generally requiring that municipalities allow between two and four housing units per lot where housing is permitted; requiring that municipalities allow accessory dwelling units to be located on the same lot as a single-family home under certain conditions; and requiring that the state establish statewide and regional housing production goals and set forth ways in which local governments can coordinate with that goal.

Chairperson John Contreni said the minutes of the planning board’s last meeting are online and available to read for more information on LD 2003.

During the planning board meeting earlier in the month Code Enforcement Officer Ron Sarol said any proposed amendments would follow the same process as last year’s special town meeting, with a public hearing and vote later on. Sarol said Greenville officials cannot spot zone, such as adding one adjacent property to the designated area.

While the district has specified boundaries, such as not crossing Pritham Avenue to the other side of the street, some residents have expressed interest in a potential expansion which would enable their properties to qualify and be able to be converted into rental units. 

Earlier in the month the planning board met Maine Department of Economic and Community Development Housing Opportunity Program Coordinators Hilary Gove and Benjamin Averill over Zoom to learn more about LD 2003. 

Sarol said Gove mentioned that a great deal of ordinance changes would not be needed for Greenville. “It was more going to be the definitions and anything that we may want to tweak,” he said.

The code enforcement officer will look at setbacks and minimum lot sizes, such as decreasing from 10,000 square feet to meet LD 2003. More information will be brought to the planning board.

“It would have to include some kind of wording that says if two dwellings were attached by a common wall then that setback would obviously not include that, because you could not separate those two buildings,” Sarol said. He said sections of Dover-Foxcroft have 5- and 10-foot setbacks and more rural areas have larger distances.

The press release states Greenville’s population has declined from around 2,000 to under 1,500 from 1960 to 2020, but the community has room to grow and must grow to keep the school and increase the tax base.

The planning board is betting that more new housing that is affordable will attract additional residents, adding to the workforce and overall economic well-being.

Since the new ordinance was approved, property owners have come forward requesting extension of the multigenerational housing district to include new properties.

For more than a year the Northern Forest Center has been working on a Spruce Street project with the town, Moosehead Lake Region Economic Development Corp., and Northern Light CA Dean Hospital to bring middle-income housing to the community to help remedy the housing issues near Moosehead Lake. The 5-acre site on Spruce Street is owned by the MLREDC and the Northern Forest Center would purchase the property in the future.

To help bring the project to fruition a new overlay district was proposed by the Northern Forest Center. An overlay is an additional layer of planning control for properties in a clearly defined area with a specified set of regulations. Greenville previously had three overlays, a scenic corridor, another for groundwater preservation, and the shoreland zoning district.

The new district would permit the construction of 22-28 units on the property, which would make these homes more affordable. The new district would help eliminate as many barriers as possible. The Northern Forest Center would like to see no minimum lot size, no minimum setbacks from property lines, no maximum lot coverage, no minimum frontage, and no maximum height.

The Northern Forest Center will bring the proposal before its board and everything should be in accordance with town ordinances in order to proceed.The Northern Forest Center has worked with the town to secure a $991,708 grant from Northern Border Regional Commission. An additional $265,000 to be raised by Northern Forest Center will also help offset the costs for sewer and water extensions, stormwater collection installation, and construction of a new road and sidewalks onto the property. The road, sidewalk, and water and sewer would be deeded to the town.