Housing is the foundation on which a community is built, but over the decades, housing production throughout Maine has dropped significantly, leading to a shortage in the state. In October, the Maine State Housing Authority released a study that set a production target of 84,300 homes by 2030 (whole state) to compensate for underproduction and keep pace with demand. Additionally, our aging housing stock requires reinvestment. This insufficient supply has not kept up with an increase in demand, causing prices to skyrocket in recent years.

In the Legislature, my colleagues and I are working together to pass laws that will help support housing developers in combating this crisis. Building more housing statewide will create greater availability and increase affordability, and last session, we passed legislation that will invest $70 million to boost funding for the Low Income-Housing Tax Credit and the Rural Affordable Rental Program. Both initiatives will spur the development and construction of affordable rental housing projects.

To continue meeting this moment, we are focusing on initiatives that will make building easier. On Nov. 14, I testified before the Joint Select Committee on Housing in support of two bills that strive to support home production. The first bill is LD 1134, An Act to Improve Housing Affordability by Amending the Definition of “Subdivision” Under the Site Location of Development Law, which I sponsored.

This bill would adjust the legal definition of a subdivision, increasing lot capacity to 20, including more significant acreage and creating a shorter time period between the phases of a project. Currently, the definition of subdivision stipulates that once a development reaches a threshold of 15 lots, all planning progress must stop, and the project is put on pause while it is passed up to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for review. However, depending on the DEP’s workload, developers could be waiting on review results for a long time, causing cumbersome delays.

Municipalities are already working to assess whether the subdivision project complies with ordinances and regulations. They have already vetted how the development will affect wetlands, natural areas, traffic patterns, soil erosion, water quality and storm resiliency. So, the state is essentially adding another level of review to what’s being done by municipalities. The result is that the accumulated expenses accrued by the developer in this waiting period are ultimately passed onto future home buyers. By increasing the lot number to 20, less projects will need to go through this process, ultimately improving affordability in the long run.

The second bill I testified in support of is LD 772, An Act to Establish a Process to Vest Rights for Land Use Permit Applicants. This bill would ensure the review process for a land use permit remains subject to the stipulations and ordinances that were in place at the time of application. Ensuring that the rules stay consistent through the review process would help protect an applicant’s investment, allowing the construction of a project to reach completion. Like LD 1134, this bill would help to ensure that projects reach completion without being hindered by unexpected, unnecessary costs.

I am hopeful that both measures will be passed into law. To adequately address the housing crisis, we must begin at the foundation of the problem – an undersupply of housing stock – and ensure that there is support to build from the ground up.

Rep. Jim Boyle, D-Gorham, is serving his second term in the Maine House of Representatives and previously served two years in the Maine State Senate. He is a member of the Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee. Contact him at Jim.Boyle@legislature.maine.gov.