An Act To Promote Livable, Affordable Neighborhoods
Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 0853
Committee: Business, Research and Economic Development
Sponsors: SUSLOVIC, BROMLEY, BERUBE, COWGER, KOFFMAN, LA VERRIERE-BOUCHER, LERMAN, PIOITI, GILMAN, SAWYER
Amends: 5 MRSA §12004-G, 30-A MRSA §4361

Legislative Document 
No. 853 
H.P.630 
House of Representatives, February 20, 2003 
An Act To Promote Livable, Affordable Neighborhoods 
Reference to the Committee on Business, Research and Economic Development suggested 
and ordered printed. 
Presented by Representative SUSLOVIC of Portland. 
Cosponsored by Senator BROMLEY of Cumberland and 
17/~/J7.~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Representatives: BERUBE of Lisbon, COWGER of Hallowell, KOFFMAN of Bar Harbor, 
LA VERRIERE-BOUCHER of Biddeford, LERMAN of Augusta, PIOITI of Unity, Senators: 
GILMAN of Cumberland, SAWYER of Penobscot. 
Printed on recycled paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. I. 5 MRSA §12004-G, sub-§14-D is enacted to read: 
14-D. 
State 
~75 per 
30-A 
Hou§ing 
Affordable 
meeting 
MRSA §4361 
Neighborhood 
plus 
Development 
expenses 
Review 
for certain 
Board 
members 
Sec. 2. 30-A MRSA §4361 is enacted to read: 
§4361. 
Regulation of affordable neighborhood development 
1. 
Applicability. 
This section applies to municipalities 
that 
are part of 
a 
labor 
market 
area, 
as 
defined 
by 
the 
Department of Labor, in which the Maine State Housing Authority, 
using common underwriting criteria, determines that a household 
at the median income for the labor market area can not afford to 
purchase a median-priced home. 
The Maine State Housing Authority 
shall make this determination at least every 2 years. 
2. 
Definitions. 
A§ 
used 
in this 
section, 
unless 
the 
context 
otherwi§e 
indicates, 
the 
following 
terms 
have 
the 
following meanings. 
A. 
"Acce§sory dwelling unit" means a dwelling unit of 600 
sguare feet or less wi thin a single-family dwelling or a 
building 
accessory 
to 
and 
on 
the 
same 
lot 
as 
the 
single-family 
dwelling 
when 
the 
owner 
of 
the 
property 
occupies either the main dwelling or the accessory dwelling 
unit. 
B. 
"Affordable neighborhood development" means a primarily 
residential development on at least 3 contiguous acres ln 
which at least 25% of the dwelling units are affordable 
housing as defined by section 4301 and that is designed to 
be compact and walkable; is served by, or will be served by 
an extension of, 
a 
public sewer; 
includes internal open 
space and other common open space; 
includes one or more 
small-§cale nonresidential uses of service to the residents 
of the development, either built within the development or 
available within 1/2 mile of the development; 
and meets 
design guidelines established pursuant to subsection 5. 
C. 
"Common open space" means a parcel or parcels of land, 
£n 
area of water 
or 
a 
combination of 
land and water, 
including floodplains and wetlands, within or traversing an 
affordable 
neighborhood 
development 
and 
designed 
and 
intended for 
the use 
and enjoyment of residents of the 
affordable neighborhood development. 
"Common 
open space" 
does 
not 
include 
land 
or 
yards 
allocated 
to 
specific 
dwelling 
units 
or 
other 
structures 
or 
in 
public 
rights-Of-way. 
D. 
"Complete plan" means a plan signed and sealed by the_ 
professional land surveyor under whose responsible charge a 
land survey was 
completed and 
by 
a 
landscape architect 
certified in the State under whose responsible charge all 
elements of the plan, as required by the design guidelines 
established pursuant to subsection 5, have been addressed. 
E. 
"Internal open space" means a component of common open 
space consisting of one or more parcels with a minimum area 
of 
square feet, 
of 
a 
distinct geometric 
shape 
and 
bounded by streets or other rights-of-way. 
F. 
"Precertified development" 
means 
a 
development that, 
prior to final approvals by a local board, has been reviewed 
by the board established in subsection 3 and certified as an 
affordable neighborhood development. 
3. 
State Affordable Neighborhood Development Review Board. 
The 
State 
Affordable 
Neighborhood 
Development 
Review 
Board, 
referred to in this section as "the board," is established within 
the Maine State Housing Authority. 
A. 
The board consists of 6 members: 
the Director of the 
Maine State Housing Authority or the director's designee, 
who is the chair; the Director of the State Planning Office 
or 
the 
director's 
designee; 
the 
Commissioner 
of 
Environmental Protection or the commissioner's designee; 
a 
landscape architect certified in the State, appointed by the 
Governor; a town or city planner employed by a municipality 
in the State, appointed by the Governor; 
and an elected 
municipal official, appointed by the Governor. 
The Director 
of 
the 
Maine 
State Housing Authority or 
the director's 
designee 
may 
not vote 
on applications that are 
seeking 
financing from the authority. 
A quorum is 4 members. 
B. 
Appointed members of the board serve 3-year terms or 
until a successor is named, whichever is later, as long as 
they continue to hold a position that qualifies them for 
appointment. 
c. 
Members 
of 
the 
board 
who 
are 
employed 
by 
State 
Government serve without pay. 
Other members of the board 
are entitled to receive $75 per day for their attendance at 
meetings 
and 
to 
reimbursement 
for 
reasonable 
expenses, 
including travel, to be paid by the Maine State Housing 
Authority. 
D. 
Within 60 days of receiving a written reg:uest for 
a 
precertified development along with a 
complete plan, 
the 
board, by a vote of a majority of the members present and 
voting, shall issue a written finding: 
(1) 
Certifying that the complete plan meets the design 
guidelines established pursuant to subsection 5 for an 
affordable neighborhood development; or 
(2) 
Denying certification that the plan meets 
the 
design 
guidelines 
for 
an 
affordable 
neighborhood 
development and giving the reasons for the denial. 
An 
applicant whose reg:uest for certification is denied may 
resubmit a new complete plan at a later date. 
4. 
Regulation of affordable neighborhood development. 
An 
affordable neighborhood development is regulated as follows. 
A. 
Except 
as 
reg:uired 
under Title 
or 
an 
ordinance 
adopted pursuant to Title 38, a municipality may not reg:uire 
that 
a 
single-family 
house 
lot 
within 
a 
precertified 
development 
be 
larger 
than 
5,000 
sg:uare 
feet 
or 
have 
frontage of more than 50 feet on any road, except that the 
municipality may reg:uire that the average frontage of all 
lots in that development be at least 70 feet and may not 
reg:uire dimensional standards for lots, buildings or roads 
in excess of the design guidelines established pursuant to 
subsection 5. 
B. 
Except 
as 
reg:uired under Title 
or 
an 
ordinance 
adopted pursuant to Title 38, a municipality may not require 
that a multifamily lot within a precertified development 
have 
fewer 
than 
dwelling units per acre 
and 
may 
not 
reg:uire dimensional standards for lots, buildings or roads 
in excess of the design guidelines established pursuant to 
subsection 5. 
C. 
A precertified development may be located in any area of 
a 
municipality 
where 
other 
residential 
development 
is 
allowed as long as public sewer service is available to the 
precertified development either through an existing line or 
through a line that could be extended to that development. 
If a 
municipal 
zoning district authorized pursuant to 
a 
consistent 
comprehensive 
plan permits 
only 
single-family 
.Q.wellings, the precertified development must be restricted 
to single-family dwellings, 
accessory dwelling units 
and 
• 
small-scale nonresidential structures and uses found by the 
board to be integral to the development. 
D. 
A precertified affordable neighborhood development is 
subject to the 
same municipal subdivision and site plan 
reviews 
as 
other 
residential 
developments 
~n 
the 
municipality, 
except 
that 
such 
reviews 
may 
not 
require 
dimensional standards for lots, buildings or roads in excess 
of the design guidelines established pursuant to subsection 
5. 
Municipal 
subdivision 
and 
site 
plan 
reviews 
of 
precertified developments must be completed wi thin 180 days 
of the submission of a complete application for such reviews. 
E. 
A municipality may substitute its own definition of 
"accessory dwelling unit" for the definition in subsection 
2, paragraph A as long as that definition does not have the 
effect 
of 
prohibiting 
such 
a 
unit 
in 
an 
affordable 
neighborhood development. 
5. 
Design guidelines; rules. 
The board shall adopt by rule 
design guidelines for an affordable neighborhood development. The 
office, 
in 
cooperation with 
the 
board, 
shall 
prepare draft 
guidelines for the board' s 
consideration. 
The guidelines must 
include 
submission 
requirements 
and 
related 
fees 
and 
must 
generally respect the principles of walkable neighborhoods with a 
variety of 
lot 
sizes 
and 
types 
and 
choice 
of 
housing 
for 
households 
of 
different 
incomes 
that 
respect 
the 
natural 
environment, 
provide 
for 
adequate fire protection and public 
safety and provide for appropriate internal open space and other 
common open space. 
Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are 
major 
substantive rules 
as defined in Title 
5, 
chapter ~ 
subchapter 2-A. 
Sec. 3. 
Submission of rules. 
Rules 
adopted 
by 
the 
State 
Affordable Neighborhood Development Review Board pursuant to the 
Maine Revised Statutes, Title 30-A, section 4361, subsection 5 
must be submitted to the Legislature in accordance with the Maine 
Revised Statutes, Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A no later 
than December 1, 2004. 
SUMMARY 
This bill establishes 
the 
State 
Affordable 
Neighborhood 
Development Review Board within the Maine State Housing Authority 
and 
establishes 
standards 
for 
affordable 
neighborhood 
developments.