For the third time in almost as many years, state lawmakers have failed to create a statewide housing resolution board, something supporters believe could help ease the housing crisis.

Pro-housing advocates have long suggested establishing a mechanism for developers to swiftly appeal a local planning board denial if they feel a project is scuttled more by community opposition than a lack of merits in the plan.

Rep. Traci Gere, D-Kennebunk, introduced a bill last session to create such a board within the judicial branch, but court officials argued that it’s the wrong (and unconstitutional) place for it.

Gere’s bill was then carried over to the current session where it was amended to delay the creation of a board and instead establish a commission to “study pathways for creating efficiencies and improvements in legal disputes involving housing development projects.”

Rather than stand up a board, a 14-member commission would be directed to “identify ways to reduce the cost and time spent on legal challenges to housing development projects,” as well as the most common legal housing-related challenges in Maine, and to review housing dispute resolution methods in other states.

In a near unanimous vote Tuesday, the Committee on Housing and Economic Development voted to advance the bill. Rep. Amanda Collamore, R-Pittsfield, was the only no vote. The measure will now go to the House and Senate for a vote.

A TOUGH SELL FOR LAWMAKERS

The idea of creating a statewide board has been floated several times in recent years, but any bill that threatens to restrict municipalities or create mandates often faces an uphill battle.

A resolution board was initially included in LD 2003, a landmark 2022 bill to increase housing density that among other things allowed accessory dwelling units on all residential lots statewide. 

But the board was stripped from the bill to get the necessary support to move it over the finish line. 

Similarly, a proposed board was removed from LD 1829, a bill passed last session that clarified and expanded some provisions in LD 2003. 

Supporters say a resolution board manned by experts is necessary to act as a check on municipal boards, primarily run by untrained volunteers, who could be swayed by emotional arguments from their neighbors. New Hampshire and Connecticut have created similar boards.

Opponents, however, say it would erode Maine’s longstanding tradition of local control. 

According to Gere, many proposed housing developments are being spiked over disputes about whether the project was appropriately evaluated before it was approved. 

“We have seen a number of instances when a developer has proposed a project designed to be in line with the community’s vision and ordinances, but then some type of opposition emerges and the project ends up cancelled or mired in endless legal proceedings,” she said in written testimony introducing the legislation. “This recurring scenario delays progress on communities addressing their housing needs, adds a high cost burden to projects and developers and has a chilling or destroying effect on future, much needed housing development.” 

LOCAL CONTROL VS. HOUSING GOALS

As originally drafted, the board would have been housed within the judicial branch, but Barbara Cardone, director of legal affairs and public relations for the branch, said it could be an “unconstitutional exercise of legislative power.”

If the bill were passed as written, the Supreme Judicial Court would likely “decline to implement its provisions,” she said. 

The Maine Municipal Association also opposed the bill, instead advocating for more investment in court resources to resolve disputes more quickly. 

Many housing advocates have argued that a housing resolution board would help dissuade planning boards from putting too much weight behind “not in my backyard” or NIMBY arguments. 

Laura Mitchell, executive director of the Affordable Housing Coalition, said it would be an “inexpensive, fast pathway, staffed by experts to provide a pathway for municipalities and developers to stay within the legal framework for approving housing, rather than the emotion driven, non-ordinance related, gray area testimony that volunteers hear from their neighbors at planning board meetings.”

Mitchell added that it’s expensive and difficult to build housing anywhere in Maine, and the problem requires a statewide solution. 

MaineHousing typically does not weigh in on land use and zoning bills, said Erik Jorgensen, senior director of government relations and communications for the quasi-state agency, but he voiced support for the original draft of LD 1921 because it seeks to address a problem that he said is becoming all too common: A developer follows the rules and goes through the various municipal approvals processes only to have the project fall apart due to zoning board problems or endless challenges. 

“Our experience has shown that projects in any part of the state can be derailed in this way, by small groups of citizens seeking to block them, especially by appeals that can ‘run out the clock’ until a developer simply gives up,” Jorgensen said.