Housing Legislation – A Succinct Summary

Tanya Emery, the newest member of MMA’s advocacy team, joins Rebecca Lambert and Amanda Campbell to discuss housing, which is a hot topic in many circles. With the rapid pace of change and growing demands being placed on municipalities and residents who have helped shape their communities, the intergovernmental relationship is being tested. In what can best be described as a “CliffsNotes” approach, the advocacy team succinctly summarizes the many housing issues that await the Maine Legislature’s return in January.  The takeaway from this episode is clear: for Maine to advance its housing goals, the concerns being raised by municipal leaders must be taken seriously. It’s all about partnership.  

Transcript

 Welcome everyone to Potholes & Politics, Local Maine Issues from A to Z. I'm your co-host Rebecca Lambert, and with me as always is my amazing colleague, Amanda Campbell. 

Hello, Rebecca, and thanks everyone for listening. 

Yes. Thank you for listening. To recap on our last episode, we talked with Kathleen Billings, who is the town manager of Stonington and is also on the Property Tax Relief Task Force, and she represents communities with populations of less than 10,000 residents. If you haven't listened to that one, check it out. And while you're there, if you could please like and subscribe to our podcast. Two things happen when you do this. First, you'll be notified when a new episode airs so you never miss an episode. And second, the likes make our podcast look good. So, thank you for helping us out.

This week we're welcoming Tanya Emery, the newest member of the Advocacy & Communications team at MMA. And she is the lead on all things housing related. Welcome Tanya, and thanks so much for joining our podcast and our team. And can you introduce yourself a little bit to our listeners? 

Thank you both. I'm so excited to be here. I can honestly say I've been excited about being on the podcast since I joined MMA. I wanna just share briefly so folks know who I am while we're talking about this important topic today.

My name is Tanya Emery. I came to the Maine Municipal Association after working in the public and private sectors in Maine for about 25 years. Uh, primarily working mostly in economic and community development for the cities of Bangor and Brewer. Working on all kinds of great creative projects with folks from across the state, and then most recently working on broadband and digital equity with the Maine Connectivity Authority.

So, I am thrilled to be part of the MMA team. I thank you both for welcoming me so much. It's a fun team to be part of and for doing this podcast to bring this news and information to our members. 

Well, we are thrilled to have you on our podcast today, and housing is the subject that we'll be diving into. Can you tell us a little about why this topic is so important? 

Housing is a hot topic all over the state. It can't be denied. I think it comes up in almost every conversation or news article in some way. And really importantly, the pace of change in how the state and municipalities are addressing it is really unprecedented.

There has been a full court press from the state as a result of some significant housing shortages and challenges in areas, and this has really challenged the intergovernmental relationship between state and local governments as municipalities are trying to adapt their local plans for development, which they are responsible for creating and administering.

And then putting these new provisions in from the state while seeking clarity on all of these rules and regulations. And that's part of what we're gonna try to do today. 

So, if we look back at this last session of the 132nd Legislature, can you talk a little bit about the housing bills that were brought forward during both the first and the special sessions of the legislature?

Well, how much time do we have? Just kidding. I'm gonna focus on just five. There were many and there were pieces of other bills that touched on housing related issues, but I really wanna focus on five important bills that municipal leaders and community members should be aware of. So, LD 1829, LD 427, and LD 997 passed in the 132nd in that first session, and they all sought to reduce zoning and land use barriers to housing production at the municipal level with some pretty sweeping reforms. Some of the changes coming from these bills include allowing the development of residential housing units within buildings that are zoned for commercial uses, prohibiting the use of rate of growth ordinances to limit residential development in growth areas and authorizing development of three dwelling units for any lot. And four, if the unit is in a designated growth area or served by water and sewer. So, these changes combined really have the potential to create some very dense development in communities that may not have been thinking in that direction or prepared for that.

And that's why it's so important for municipalities to understand the total scope of these changes and what they do. Additionally, LD 1184 requires collection and reporting of key housing metrics for municipalities with 4,000 or more residents using that sort of MUBEC cutoff point. LD 427 reduced minimum parking requirements for dwelling unit and allows the use of offsite parking agreements to satisfy parking requirements. So, this now puts more tools in the toolbox for municipalities to be able to accommodate development if they can't meet that minimum parking standard. It also reduces the amount of onsite parking that a developer may have to create when they're doing a housing project, and that can also have consequences. So, we wanna make sure that folks are fully aware. I, I also wanna mention there was some great progress and some wonderful things and, and we wanna, specifically look at the opportunity to provide consistent funding for housing projects, which has been a real challenge.

A portion of revenue from the real estate transfer tax will now support the development of affordable housing, and that really shows an ongoing state commitment to funding for affordable housing development, which is not something that has been present in the past. 

So, just to let our listeners know, all of those bills that you've talked about and the others that have passed are featured in the legislative takeover edition of the Maine Town & City Magazine, which you can find right on our website.

But just hearing what you've said, it sounds like municipal officials have quite a bit of new information to keep up with. 

Absolutely they do. And that's why, for example, that publication is so important. I mean, I think most municipal officials are probably keeping that open on their browser or on their desk because having reference to those recently passed laws and new regulations is critical for anybody working in this landscape.

These bills in particular require substantial work for municipalities to come into compliance. Staff have to rewrite ordinances, many of which have already been rewritten due to previous legislative action or individual town priorities. I know many communities that we have worked with have already been making changes at the local level to accommodate housing development, and now there are these state mandated changes that have to be layered on top.

We are very strongly recommending that all municipalities track their time and money that they're investing in accommodating these changes as well as any implementation challenges. Many of these bills were with the goal of creating housing and removing barriers to housing creation. But some of the implementation pathways were not necessarily spelled out specifically. And so, it's really important for municipalities to be thinking about as they are putting these in place and how do they actually work at the local level. If challenges arise, we wanna know so that we can advocate for better implementation pathways. 

The Housing Opportunity Program, which is called HOP, the staff at the new Maine Office of Community Affairs, also called MOCA, they are currently engaged in rulemaking on some of these bills, and that is a critical part of the process as well. And they also plan to create a new grant program to provide financial support to municipalities implementing these new housing laws in addition to technical assistance.

So, there are resources out there. We also wanna make sure that folks are letting us know as members what they need from us for support and technical assistance to implement these changes. 

How about studies or working groups? What is being done in the interim to work on this housing issue? 

Well, the inter-session has certainly not been quiet.

There is a lot of activity happening on a variety of fronts. But really there are a number of studies and working groups focused on housing. I think that's probably one of the biggest areas of activity, in addition to the property tax task force. All of the ones that I'm gonna mention here have reports that are due in 2025, in December, and they may result in legislation.

So, all of these are authorized to potentially create legislation, which makes them especially important because they could very quickly result in some sort of legislative change in the next session. The Housing Production Innovation Work Group, which was created because of LD 1453, is studying the potential for innovative housing construction technologies.

Things like modular components, componentized housing, three-dimensional printing. If you haven't seen the 3D house that's been done at the University of Maine, there's some really new and innovative things that are out there that could potentially provide ways that we could provide more cost-effective, quick solutions to housing issues.

The Office of the State Fire Marshal has a working group to study authorization for municipal fire departments with trained personnel to conduct sprinkler reviews. Those sprinkler system plan reviews can be very difficult, very technical, and if we have to use state resources, sometimes they can slow down a process. We now may have the opportunity to have municipal staff be able to be trained and conduct those reviews, which would certainly help facilitate faster review processes. LD 1246 is a study of impact fees, obviously something that's very important to municipalities and LD 1375 established a working group to address regulatory barriers to housing construction such as permitting, land use, and codes.

And then, last but not least, there is also a working group studying mobile home park affordability and stability, which has been a significant issue in many communities, under LD 1765. 

Quick question for you. Is that an entire house that was built with a 3D printer? 

Great question. It is an entire house.

Interesting. 

And one of my immediate questions was how do you fix something when it breaks? 

Right? 

And yes, they have figured that out. So highly recommend maybe we do a future episode talking about the 3D printed house and how they are working through the process of making that so it can be code compliant and also be able to be printed at a scale and speed that would make it affordable for use as a housing solution in Maine.

Huh, interesting. So, in addition to any legislation that may come out of those studies that you just mentioned, as we look forward to the next session in January, what can we expect to see as it relates to housing? 

Well, we have lots of carryover bills also written up in our publications. An important thing to refer back to, we have a number of inter-session works groups and studies, which we've talked about some of them.

And we also have lots of new bill titles on the way. So, we expect it to be a very vigorous short session in 2026, and that is also gonna flow right into election season, so it's going to be very busy. We've already had a Housing and Economic Development Committee work session on LD 128, which concerns SLODA. a bill that the LPC is tracking, and also LD 161, which has to do with overhauling subdivision laws.

LPC did support that as well. And it appears at this time that there is support for wholesale look at state subdivision laws, and we are very grateful that they are paying a lot of attention to the composition of that group. LD 161 would actually create a stakeholder group, and that group would then be informing the process of making major reforms to subdivision. That is a critically important part, and so we have suggested through our testimony and our conversations with the committee members that there are a variety of interests from the municipal side that should be considered, and we're very grateful that they're taking a close look at that.

A few of the notable carryover bills that I wanna highlight very quickly. We have a lot, and we can get more information to all of our members through our LPC communications and our publications, but some of the highlights, LD 1247, is an act to restrict municipal ordinance requirements regarding housing developments.

That could have a significant impact. The LPC did oppose that. LD 1806 would create a residential rental unit registry. Again, this goes to data and tracking, which is important. This would be a substantial effort. It would require annual registration, searchable website. It, it is a pretty substantial lift. So that's something we're keeping a close eye on. LD 1921 is also seeking to create a statewide housing resolution board. So essentially, a different adjudicatory process where disputes between, say, for example, a developer and a planning board could be resolved in a specific, board situation that would be dedicated to those matters. So maybe providing an opportunity, for faster resolution, but also creating some duplicative processes and calling into question sort of the existing process of municipal decisions and how they are appealed. So that is something that the LPC opposed and we're gonna continue to take a close look at that.

LD 1926, is an act to require increased housing density or lower minimum lot sizes for workforce housing, which really both of those mechanisms have the same effect of encouraging and allowing increased density when we're dealing with something that the state is calling workforce housing. Which, in this bill is defined as less than 220% of the area median income. So many subsidized housing projects and affordable housing projects are at a significantly lower income threshold. This is more to incorporate those critical municipal employees and essential employees that make up our communities such as our teachers and firefighters and postal workers. Those folks also deserve an opportunity to have housing in some of those very expensive communities where it's not currently available to them. And so, something like that is a priority of the state, but it's also very important that we are watching the mechanisms by which that might be implemented.

And that's why LPC opposed 1926, and we're going to continue to keep an eye on it because the mechanisms by which the state wants to accomplish these workforce housing goals are very impactful for municipal land use and municipal ordinances. And therefore, we need to make sure that we are working in concert with those larger housing goals and how they actually get implemented at the local level.

Our team is monitoring carryover and new bills as they're scheduled for public hearings and work sessions. We're also very closely following a lot of rulemaking, and hopefully we will soon have details on any new funding and resources that are available to assist our communities with all of this work that they now have to do.

Boy, this is an incredible amount of information packed into a short episode, and housing is a topic that we could probably go on and on about all day long. But since we can't, what is something that you think that our members could take away with all this information? What are the hot points that they could come back with?

Great question. I really would like folks to walk away and remember over and over again implementation challenges of all of this legislation are a very real concern. The pace and the complexity of all the housing legislation that has passed in the first session of the 132nd and previous legislatures is unprecedented, and it is something that is really putting a lot of strain on municipal resources and municipal systems.

We right now, municipalities need to be strategizing local ordinance updates, preparing for upcoming rule changes. There are deadlines and details that need to be carefully monitored. We want people to track your time and money that you're spending on this work and identify technical assistance and resource needs that you may have and share them with MMA so we can be your partner in this work.

I think that partner concept is an important one to remember. And it's important to note that while most of the bills that we've just discussed were opposed by our legislative policy committee, municipal officials are not blind to this housing crisis. And they're not opposed to creating more housing. But it often feels like that when we're sitting in a legislative hearing. And often at the legislature, municipalities are seen as the bad guys and sometimes we're treated like a special interest group instead of a partner. And so, our team is working hard to flip that narrative and help legislators and other state officials understand that municipal officials know their communities best, and that embracing that concept as part of a renewed state and local partnership really can generate positive results.

So, thanks Tanya, for really honing in on that partnership idea and bringing that positive spin to this conversation, to the housing committee in particular and to just to the legislature in general. And thanks for sharing your time with us today and our members. We appreciate all of your knowledge on this subject. 

We will put Tanya's email in the transcript for those who may want or need more information as it relates to housing issues. As we said in the beginning of the episode, she is MMA's lead on all housing legislation related matters. We will also link to the bills and rules referenced for your convenience.

Thanks again, Tanya, for joining us today. We really appreciate your expertise and your sparkling personality. 

Well, thank you. 

Welcome to the team. 

I don't have a podcast name yet. I'm still working on that, but I know you guys, maybe the listeners can help come up with one. Not quite there yet, but I'll get there. Thanks for having me on. 

Thanks a lot.

Tanya Emery – temery@memun.org

Housing Opportunity Program Proposed Rules (almost at the bottom of the page!)

New Laws

LD 1829-An Act to Build Housing for Maine Families and Attract Workers to Maine Businesses by Amending the Laws Governing Housing Density (PL. 2025, c.385)

LD 427-An Act to Regulate Municipal Parking Space Minimums (PL. 2025, c.374)

LD 997-An Act to Allow Residential Use Development in Commercial Districts (PL. 2025, c. 364)

LD 1184-An Act to Require Municipal Reporting on Residential Building Permits, Dwelling Units Permitted and Demolished and Certificates of Occupancy Issued (PL. 2025, c.495)

LD 1453-Resolve, to Establish the Housing Production Innovation Working Group (RSLV. 2025, c. 105)

LD 1105-Resolve, to Study Authorization for Municipal Fire Departments with Trained Personnel to Conduct Fire Sprinkler System Plan Reviews (RSLV. 2025, c. 103)

LD 1246-Resolve, Directing the Department of Exonomic and Community Development to Convene a Working Group to Review the Process of Setting Impact Fees (RSLV. 2025, c.85)

LD 1375-Resolve, to Establish a Working Group to Address Regulatory Barriers to Housing Construction (RSLV. 2025, c. 64)

LD 1765-An Act to Ensure Affordability and Stability in Residential Housing and in Manufactured Housing Communities (PL. 2025, c. 365)

Proposed Legislation

LD 128-An Act to Support Permitting of Certain Multifamily Housing Developments Under the Site Location of Development Laws

LD 161-Resolve, Directing the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry to Convene a Stakeholder Group Tasked with a Comprehensive Overhaul and Modernization of the State Subdivision Laws

LD 1247-An Act to Restrict Municipal Ordinance Requirements Regarding Housing Developments

LD 1806-An Act to Create a Residential Rental Unit Registry

LD 1921-An Act to Create a Statewide Housing Resolution Board

LD 1926-An Act to Require Increased Housing Density or Lower Minimum Lot Sizes for Workforce Housing