LEWISTON — Developers have delayed an affordable housing project that would have replaced downtown buildings that burned last spring.

Lincoln Jeffers, Lewiston’s economic development director, said Volunteers of America declined to pursue permits from the Lewiston Planning Board.

“They have asked for a continuation to a later meeting,” Jeffers said Tuesday. “The bottom line is, they did not have site control to go forward with the development review application.”

That decision effectively shelves the development for at least a year.

“The project needed tax credits from Maine Housing and that deadline is (Sept. 26),” Jeffers said. “To be competitive in that process, they would have needed to have Planning Board approval. So they have not withdrawn the application, but it certainly is in a pause and will not be considered in this round of tax credits.”

The project would have replaced buildings on some of the lots burned in a downtown blaze on May 3 — 110 and 114 Pierce St. and 145 and 149 Bartlett St.

According to the proposed deal, the city would have conveyed the properties to Volunteers of America Northern New England at no cost, would have waived fees on the project and created a 15-year Tax Increment Finance District.

All of that would have been needed to qualify for tax credits from Maine Housing.

Councilors voted 4-3 at their Sept. 17 meeting to invest about $150,000 in the project. That would have included the $72,694 the city has already spent cleaning up the site and demolishing the burned-out properties.

Darcy Reed, who owns two units downtown and is running for City Council in Lewiston’s Ward 4, had mounted a petition drive to put the Volunteers of America project before voters. That may not be necessary now, but Reed said her work will continue.

“Now, we would ask for a moratorium on any new low-income housing buildings in Lewiston until we resolve any issues that low-income housing creates for us,” Reed said.

Reed said private local landlords cannot compete with large non-profits, who offer state-of-the-art buildings for subsidized rents.

“They look like very nice buildings,” Reed said. “But they are taking all of our good tenants and our taxes are helping to subsidize them. So then landlords are left with unoccupied buildings, and that means we can invest less in our buildings.”

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