With its first planner set to start next month, Rockland tables affordable housing debate
Rockland has been weighing affordable housing measures that would mirror similar efforts made in Portland, Boston and other cities to make new construction more attainable for average Mainers.
The Rockland City Council this week weighed an inclusionary zoning proposal, but decided to postpone further action on the topic until March as the city recently hired a full-time town planner who will start in January.
W. Rhett Lamb of Peterborough, N.H., begins work as Rockland’s planner in mid-January. Lamb has been the assistant city manager and community development director for Keene, N.H., since 1996. He will be Rockland's first full-time planner.
The proposal under consideration in Rockland calls for the development of six or more residential units to have 15% of those deemed “affordable.” The benchmark for affordability is that the unit does not require more than 30% of the income of an individual or family making the average median income for Knox County.
The average median income for Knox County is $49,300 for one person, and $70,400 for a family of four. That would put a limit on the rent for an affordable unit at $1,232 for one person, and $1,760 for a family of four.
“Rockland is facing an affordable housing crunch much like other places in Maine and around the country,” said Nathan Davis, a Rockland city councilor and co-sponsor of the inclusionary zoning measure. “Ideally we want to get to a place where this measure can be embraced by the entire community.”
“For some developments, these thresholds are not hard to meet. For some high-end projects, these might be more costly. The feedback from developers is that this is another level of regulation. Their attitudes range from concerned to acceptance,” Davis said.
Portland last year passed a new law that requires 25% of units be affordable to people making 80% of the area median income.
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