After a year of delays, this summer Monhegan fisherman Matt Webber will finally start building his new home on Lobster Cove Road.
On April 4 the Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC), the state agency with authority over Maine’s plantations and unorganized territories, approved a new affordable housing policy that will allow Monhegan Island Sustainable Community Association (MISCA) to subdivide a village parcel it purchased in 2005 with locally-raised funds, a $100,000 loan from the Genesis Fund, and a $25,000 Islands Challenge Fund grant.
Because such a large percentage of Monhegan’s land is protected in conservation easements, very few lots are available for the development of affordable year-round housing. The parcel consists of one house, which was sold to year-round residents in 2006 and additional lot on which a second single-family home could be built.
MISCA, in an effort to keep the price of both the existing house and the building lot option affordable, will own the land and a deed covenant ensures that the property will remain affordable for any subsequent buyers. Monhegan lobsterman Doug Boynton, who serves as president of MISCA, said, “Houses that come on the market are rarely affordable for young, working families and properties for more than one family are rarely available. We knew we needed to act on this property even though the price was steep at $575,000.”
The work didn’t end with purchasing the property and dividing the lots. Because the building lot was 10,000 square feet shy of the LURC minimum lot size, MISCA sought an exception from LURC. An exception would allow Matt Webber, the young resident selected to build a new home there based on MISCA’s eligibility criteria, to begin construction in the 2006 season.
In a frustrating decision for Monhegan residents, LURC ruled that it would take up the matter as part of a larger effort to develop new affordable housing rules and policy. Webber and MISCA would have to wait. What they originally assumed would be a delay of a few months extended to more than a year.
Earlier this year, LURC offered its Affordable Housing Policy Statement for public comment. The policy allows islands like Monhegan and Matinicus, which fall under LURC’s jurisdiction, to apply for variances to support the availability to affordable year-round housing which is crucial to the permanent sustainability of a year-round island community. The new LURC policy would “ensure that dimensional requirements and land use standards for residential structures and subdivisions do no contain any unnecessary barriers to the creation of affordable residential lots and construction of affordable housing.”
After months of approaching legislators and LURC officials to support the rule changes, Boynton and Webber were present at the final LURC hearing in Bangor on April 4. Boynton said, “Without these expertly-crafted rules the year-round community would not last another generation. Matt Webber’s long wait is over, and others have been given hope.”
The next step is for Matt to apply to LURC for a building permit which will be considered under the new rules so that construction on his house can begin soon.
Monhegan residents concerned with the future of the island formed MISCA in 2002 to “promote the sustainability of the year-round Monhegan community while respecting the island’s long history of conservation.” The emphasis of its work is on identifying permanent, affordable housing options, economic opportunities for year-round residents, and buildings available for purchase within the existing village that has evolved over the past 400 years. MISCA earned broad community support from both year-round and seasonal residents with the purchase and conversion of the former island store (now Black Duck Emporium) and two year-round affordable apartment units into a self-supporting building.
Now, as Matt Webber begins work on his house, another unit of affordable housing is in the offing. At a recent State House gathering of the Coalition of Coastal Workforce Housing and legislators, Boynton thanked Rep. Jon McKane and Sen. Dana Dow for their support of the LURC ruling. “Six year-round affordable homes on Monhegan can make a big difference in the future of our island community.” For the people on Monhegan, it’s four down and two to go.
Heidi Shott is communications director of the Genesis Community Loan Fund.